


i fell into the moon

by lscar123



Series: warm skin, wolf grin [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Alternate Season/Series 01, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Derek is Not a Failwolf, Derek is a lot nicer without a dead sister, Gore, Kate Argent is her own warning, Laura Hale & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Laura and Stiles are the best bros ever, Laura is a Good Alpha, M/M, Panic Attacks, Past Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Violence, copious amounts of smelling and mentions of scents, implied/referenced past rape/non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2018-12-31 19:52:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 35
Words: 234,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12139875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lscar123/pseuds/lscar123
Summary: Laura Hale is arrested hours after returning to Beacon Hills. Derek Hale returns to town to bring his sister back home and together they are drawn into the mystery of a rogue wolf on their family land. They also can't seem to stop bumping into the Sheriff's son, Stiles.Laura is determined to make Stiles her new best friend and Derek just wants everyone to survive so he can get the hell out of the town that took everything from him. Stiles just wants everyone to be happy.





	1. A New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [This Story’s Going Somewhere](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5089646) by [skoosiepants](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skoosiepants/pseuds/skoosiepants). 



> Hi! I read skoosiepants' excellent one shot "This Story's Going Somewhere" and couldn't help but wish it was longer so with permission from the original author I've decided to take the original idea and adapt it in my own way, the beginning roughly follows the same beats but diverges from canon and the inspired story pretty quickly. Enjoy!
> 
> The title of the fic comes from [Blue by Angie Hart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NfUoGH-Oek) from the best episode of Buffy, Conversations With Dead People.
> 
> There's no beta so any mistakes that I didn't catch when I was rereading the chapter are my own, I've got the next few chapters written so updates should be pretty consistent!

 

 

 

 

Chapter One

A New Beginning

 

“This is a collect call from the Beacon Hills Sheriff’s Department on behalf of,” the prerecorded voice paused for a moment before being replaced by a familiar voice, “Laura Hale.” 

Derek paused, his eyes sweeping over the city in front of him.

“Will you accept the charges?”

Derek shook his head and briefly toyed with the idea of declining and letting Laura sit in jail overnight just to prove his point, to drive home the fact that he knew she never should have gone back to the town that stole everything from them.

Laura would kill him though and Derek couldn’t deny the relief that washed over him as he realized the call was coming from Laura herself and not from someone in Beacon Hills calling to inform him that his sister was dead. He would already know if she was, he’d been checking into their pack bonds all night, but it was beside the point.

With a labored sigh, “Yes, I’ll accept all charges.”

There was a soft click on the other end of the phone before another mechanical voice, a man this time, spoke, “This is a recorded line.”

Silence.

And then, “Hey, little brother. How are you? Did you remember to call the cable guy? I hope you found the grocery list I left you, the fridge was looking a little dire before I left.”

“Laura,” Derek all but growled, “Seriously?”

Laura huffed out a low sigh, “I’m sorry. You were right, I shouldn’t have come here alone.”

“What happened?”

Laura laughed, “It’s really not anything major, they don’t have any _probable cause_.”

Laura shouted the last two words and Derek could hear the people in the background laughing at his sister even from the other side of the phone.

Derek scrubbed his free hand over his face, “Do I need to come bail you out or are you just going to annoy the Sheriff until he releases you?”

Laura must have been drumming her fingers against the bars of the holding cell, “The Sheriff decided it would be a good idea if I stayed here overnight to…calm down and then I’ll be released in the morning.”

“Laura, what the fuck happened?”

Laura sighed, “I went to visit an…old friend and out conversation got a little out of hand. No, before you ask, no bodily harm. The Sheriff just happened to be around and interrupted out conversation and decided to haul me in before anything else could happen.”

“And?”

“And nothing. My friend isn’t going to press any charges, I can promise you that. The Sheriff is using some legal mumbo jumbo to hold me here for the night but I don’t even think he’s mad beyond the fact that he had to arrest someone when he was in his sweatpants. Well, that and the blood he found in my car.”

“Blood?” Derek gasped, “Laura, what the hell?”

“Recorded line,” someone in the background yelled out.

“Quiet!” Laura snapped, “It was just from the deer that I hit on the way into town but I will admit that bloody handprints on leather seats could be perceived as a little bit suspicious.”

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose, “I’m hanging up the phone and booking the next flight out, I’ll see you in like twelve hours.”

“Derek,” Laura said softly, “you don’t have to.”

Derek clenched his fist, wincing as he felt his claws extending into the palm of his hand, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

 

X

 

The all too familiar oppressive weight fit itself perfectly back over Derek’s chest the second his plane touched down in California. It was as if it was just waiting for him to come home, like an excited dog that was ready to pounce on its owner the second the front door opened.

He hated it. He hated the entire fucking state of California.

He _especially_ hated the shitty little Prius that was the only car available for him to rent long term. Derek lowered himself into the small car and winced as his knees knocked against the center console before he found the lever to shift the seat back a merciful few inches. This car was not made for someone of his size and he hated it.

He allowed himself to resent Laura for making him come to California and stuff himself into a real-life interpretation of a clown car because Laura was alive and he was allowed to be a little pissed off that she was dragging him back to the place she promised they’d never have to return to.

Derek pulled the car onto the highway and tried to shut his brain off as he made the three-hour drive from the airport to Beacon Hills.

 

X

Derek’s face went blank as he hit the welcome sign for Beacon Hills. He curled his hand around the wheel of the Prius, barely restraining himself from breaking it under his grip, and made the familiar drive to the Sheriff’s station on autopilot.

He tried to ignore just how much the town had changed since he’d left but he couldn’t ignore how much Main Street seemed to have evolved in his absence. He counted new book stores, cafes, and a comic shop that his younger self would have killed for when he was growing up in town.

Now all the new sights just filled him with a bitter and resentful rage and he forced his foot down on the gas, pushing the small car past the speed limit in an effort to make it to the Sheriff’s station as fast as he could.

The faster he made it to the station, the fast her could get Laura, and the faster they could get the fuck out of this hellhole of a town.

Derek saw Laura’s Camaro first as he pulled into the parking lot of the station. The car was behind a flimsy chain-link fence with a rolling gate, it was something he could easily tear down with his pinky. Derek filed that observation in the back of his mind in case he and his sister needed to make a quick exit.

Derek parked the Prius next to a powder blue Jeep and killed the engine. He was out of the car and inside the station in less than ten seconds, keeping his head angled low to minimize the admittedly small chance of being recognized.

The station was bustling with energy as Derek stepped inside, he could distantly hear voices in the far back of the office, muffled and talking about mountain lions. A phone was ringing off to the side. Derek focused on blocking all of them out and homed in on the one thing he was here for.

“Admit it,” Laura’s voice echoed in his ear, she was talking to someone who was humoring her at this point, “you’re going to miss me when I’m gone.”

The woman Laura was talking to laughed, “Miss Hale, you’ve certainly been entertaining.”

Derek rolled his eyes. Leave it to Laura to make friends _anywhere_.

The reception desk was empty and the phone in front of Derek was alternating between blinking incessantly and ringing every three seconds. Just as Derek was about to lose every ounce of control and smash the damn thing, a chair rolled around the corner and long fingers picked up the handset before dancing along the keypad to answer the phone with a practiced ease.  

“Sheriff’s Department, Stilinski speaking.”

A pause.

“No,” the guy groaned, “the other Stilinski.”

“Stiles,” the voice on the other line laughed, half warm and half exasperated, “get off the phone.”

“Hey!” The guy, Stiles, protested, “Tara is away from the desk at the moment and left me in charge!”

“Really?”

Stiles was quiet for a few moments, “Listen, do you want me to transfer your call to someone or not?”

The voice laughed, “Fine kid, send me to the Sheriff.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes, “If he asks…”

“You weren’t the one to answer the phone,” the voice sighed, “transfer me and finish your damn homework.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and punched in a few keys before placing the handset back onto its cradle and looking up at Derek with big, impossibly brown eyes.

The guy, Derek realized, was a teenager. A teenager who apparently spent a lot of time in the Sheriff’s office.

Derek sniffed, because he wasn’t planning on sticking around long enough to have to deal with manners, and was met with the scent of hormones, some kind of synthetic medication, and a faint hint of cherries and pine.

Derek’s brow drew up in confusion as he stared down at Stiles, his eyes tracing the smattering of moles across his face and the buzzed hair on top of his head. Derek maybe, possibly, wanted to rub his hand across the top of Stiles’ head.

Laura would say that Stiles looked fluffy.

Stiles cleared his throat before threading his fingers together and resting his chin on top of them, “Hello person whom I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting, how can I help you?”

Derek blinked.

Stiles’ eyebrows rose to his hairline, “Let’s see, you can say something like ‘I need to see the law man,’ or ‘I need to confess a heinous crime that I committed because it’s eating me up and my soul is being torn apart by repressed guilt!’ Actually, don’t say that because I don’t really think I’m qualified to take someone’s confession and it would probably get thrown out in a court of law…unless that’s your plan to relieve your guilt but also get away with your terrible mass murder!” 

Derek blinked again, unable to focus on half of what just poured out of Stiles’ mouth, “Law man?”

Stiles nodded, unthreading his fingers and pointing one at Derek, “Right, you need a cop! Now, any run of the mill cop or do you need the Sheriff directly?”

Derek didn’t know if he needed to speak to the Sheriff directly or just any regular cop to have Laura released, “My sister?”

“Your sister?” Stiles repeated slowly, “Dude, I don’t think your sister is a deputy here because I’m here like all the time and I sure as hell would have remembered seeing someone like _you_ around here.”

Derek sputtered as the telltale scent of arousal hit his nose, it was small enough to be written off as nothing but a passing attraction but it was distinct none the less and it made Derek cringe. He hated that smell.

“I’m here to pick up my sister,” Derek snapped, his human teeth showing a little more than necessary, “I don’t need some little delinquent wasting my time!”

Stiles’ chair rolled back until it thumped against the wall hard enough to make the boy wince in slight pain, “Wow, OK then. I’m just going to…go and do something that’s not…here.”

Stiles waved his hand in Derek’s general direction as he rose from the chair and rubbed the back of his head where it had hit the wall.

Derek opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by another man who rounded the corner and grabbed Stiles by the back of his hoodie, “Seriously, Stiles? What have I told you about sitting up here?”

“Hey!” Stiles looked offended, “I told Tara I’d watch the desk while she ran to the evidence room for you!”

The man, Derek now realized was the Sheriff himself thanks to the golden badge that glinted under the fluorescent lighting, sighed, “And what did Tara tell you when you said that?”

Stiles huffed, “That I was under no circumstances to go near her desk, or to touch the phone, or to talk to anyone that came to the front while she wasn’t here.”

The Sheriff raised a single brow as he let go of Stiles’ hood before he turned to Derek and crossed his arms over his chest, “Mister Hale, I’m so glad you could join us.”

Derek tensed, “Derek is fine, sir.”

The Sheriff narrowed his eyes, “Your sister has been a pain in my ass over the last half a day.”

Stiles face lit up, “Dude! You’re Laura’s brother! You’re Derek Hale!”

The Sheriff’s head snapped back towards Stiles, “Son, why are you still here?”

Stiles clutched his chest, “Father, why must you wound me so?”

The Sheriff rolled his eyes, “Go wait in the conference room, I’ll grab you after I’m done having a chat with the Hale’s and we can go grab some dinner.”

Stiles pushed himself off the wall and saluted, “10-4!”

Stiles gave Derek one final cautious glance before turning his back and heading towards what Derek assumed was the conference room.

Derek turned his attention back to the Sheriff and it suddenly hit him.

Son. Father.

Shit.

Stiles wasn’t a delinquent, he was the Sheriff’s son.

Derek fixed his eyes on the space that Stiles previously occupied and watched as Stiles drifted down the hallway into what he assumed was the conference room. Derek wasn’t aware that he’d been staring until the Sheriff cleared his throat.

“Mister Hale,” The Sheriff’s voice was deep and vaguely threatening, “if you’re done staring at my teenage son I can take you back to your sister.”

Derek coughed, frantically turning to face the Sheriff and waving his arms in front of him, “No! I, uh, I just thought he worked here at first.”

The Sheriff laughed and the tension eased out of his shoulders, the scowl on his face making way for a small smile, “He wishes.”

The Sheriff led Derek to the back of the station, punching in a code to an electronic door and holding it open as Derek stepped through. He caught sight of Laura instantly, she was sitting on the floor of the cell with her back pressed against the stone and her head resting on the top of her knee.

Laura’s head perked up instantly, she smiled, “Derek.”

Derek sighed, “Hi,”

The Sheriff shook his head and turned to the deputy who sat on the bench across from Laura’s cell, “Thanks for doing me a favor, Missy.”

“No problem, sir. Miss Hale has been lovely company.”

“See,” Laura grinned, “I told you I wouldn’t cause any problems.”

The Sheriff laughed and took a seat on the bench across from Laura. Derek settled himself on the floor of the holding room and felt the tension he didn’t even know he was carrying melt away when Laura shifted her position and pressed her shoulder against him through the bars.

“So, Derek,” The Sheriff said, “I found your sister at the High School.”

“High school?” Derek’s brows drew together as he looked at Laura in confusion.

Laura sighed, “I told you, I went to visit an old friend.”

“An old friend by the name of Adrian Harris?” The Sheriff questioned.

“That’s the one!” Laura smiled.

“I don’t know about you, but when I visit my old friends I don’t pin them against the wall and scream in their face.”

Derek’s jaw dropped, “Jesus, Laura! What were you thinking?”

Laura was silent.

“Is Harris pressing charges?” Derek asked.

The Sheriff scrubbed his hand over his face, “No, he says the same thing as your sister. Old friends.”

“Good, then I can leave.” Laura smiled.

“Not just yet,” The Sheriff shook his head, “there’s still the matter of the bloody handprints in your car.”

Derek’s stomach dropped.

“I told you,” Laura snapped, “those were from the deer I hit on the way into town. The thing jumped out in front of my car, I hit it, I went back to see if there was anything I could do to save it but by the time I found it in the woods it was already dead.”

The Sheriff looked between Derek and Laura before Derek spoke, “I know we’ve been gone for a while but is it a crime to hit a deer and flee the scene now?”

The Sheriff shook his head, “No, but I sent a few guys out to see if they could find this deer you claim you hit?”

“And?” Laura tensed.

“They found it,” The Sheriff said, “Funny thing though, they said that the entire right flank of the deer had been skinned and that couldn’t have been caused by the accident.”

“What does that have to do with Laura?” Derek leaned forward, “You can’t prove she did anything like that.”

The Sheriff laughed, “It’s interesting because we’ve had to deal with a few suspicious animal attacks around town lately. Mutilated deer and dogs keep popping up all over the preserve.”

“I just got into town last night,” Laura shrugged, “you really think I’m some kind of serial animal killer or something?”

“Any way to prove you just got here?” The Sheriff asked.

“I drove from New York City to California, I’ve got a whole mess of receipts in my car and I’m sure you can find pictures of me at about five thousand toll booths and fifteen gas stations. I can get you bank statements if you need them.”

The Sheriff nodded, “Thank you, Laura. I’m not trying to be a hard ass, I promise. I was friendly with your parents and you’ve always been a good kid. It’s been a tense couple of weeks in town and I hope you can understand how your sudden reappearance could be construed.”

Laura deflated, her bravado failing as the mere mention of their parents, “I understand. I’m sorry too, for being such a pain in the ass. It’s hard…being back here and I let my emotions get away from me. It won’t happen again.”

The Sheriff smiled and stood, “I get it. I’ll start the paperwork to get you out of here.”

Derek stood, “We’re done? We can go home?”

The Sheriff turned around, “Not quite yet, I still need to check on Laura’s alibi and it will take a day or two to get everything in from about fifteen different departments but I don’t see the need to keep Laura locked up for a few days. I’ll need Laura to hang around town until everything comes in though, just to be safe.”

Derek deflated and leaned against the bars of the cell.

“My car?” Laura asked.

The Sheriff shook his head, “We’re going to need to keep it until your story checks out.”

Laura sighed, “Understood.”

Laura bumped her nose into the side of Derek’s cheek through the bars and whispered, “I’m sorry, pup.”

“Derek,” The Sheriff spoke up, “come with me and I’ll get the paperwork started to process Laura out, it should take about half an hour. She’ll meet you out front.”

Derek nodded, gave Laura one last small, pained smiled, and followed the Sheriff back out to the lobby.

They passed the conference room on their way out and Derek briefly noted that the door was open and the room was empty. The Sheriff stopped them at the lobby and leaned across the desk to speak to a deputy who he assumed was Tara. He got far enough to tell Tara to start the release paperwork for Laura before a call summoned him back to his office.

Tara assured him that she would get the paperwork for Laura release processed as quickly as possible so Derek found the closest chair and fell into it. His head dropped to his hands and he let out a low, almost inaudible growl. He was so tired and so angry that he was forced back to this place and now he had to stay there even longer just to make sure his sister didn’t end up in any more trouble than she was already in.

Derek lifted his head after about ten minutes and found the desk once again empty. He focused his hearing and heard the Sheriff in his office arguing on the phone with someone about tests results on an animal, and he heard Tara further back in the station telling Laura she should be out in about ten minutes.

Derek stood to stretch his legs and roll his neck; the chair had done nothing to help his already tense muscles. His eyes swept to the front of the station and fell to Stiles who was leaning against the powder blue jeep he parked next to and absentmindedly kicking at the ground in front of him.

Derek hesitated for a moment before he remembered the look of hurt in Stiles’ eyes when he snapped at him. Derek may be a hard ass but he isn’t normally an asshole and he felt like he owed Stiles some sort of apology, even if he’d never see him again.

‘Hey,” Derek said as he came into a stop in front of Stiles.

Stiles jumped about a foot in the air and fell back against the hood of the jeep, “Jesus! Make some noise next time, would you?”

Derek swallowed a laugh, his mother always told him he needed to work on making more sound when he moved, “Stiles,”

Stiles settled and hopped up to sit on the hood of the jeep and fidgeted with the sleeve of his hoodie, “That’s me, everyone’s favorite neighborhood delinquent.”

Derek winced, “I’m…sorry.”

Stiles looked up and blinked, “You’re…sorry?”

Derek sighed, “Yes, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you that. It’s been a stressful day but I shouldn’t have snapped at you, you were just trying to help.”

“Wow,” Stiles face cracked into a smile, “I didn’t know you could say that many words at one time.”

Derek narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to reply but Stiles waved him off, “Seriously dude, don’t worry about it. I’ve been called way worse than a delinquent.”

Stiles’ voice trailed off as he finished speaking and his scent spiked with sadness and embarrassment that betrayed the smile that was still firmly stuck on his face.

Derek got the sense that Stiles was used to having to shrug off what hurtful things people say to him, “Don’t do that,” Derek said before he could stop himself.

“Huh?” Stiles looked up, confused.

Derek sighed, “Don’t…don’t force yourself to deal with shitty things people say to you or act like it doesn’t bother you. Don’t bottle it up.”

Stiles’ face fell and he hesitated for a moment, he opened his mouth to speak but he was cut off from a voice calling out to Derek from behind.

“Derek!” Laura voice rang across the parking lot, “I thought you left me for a second.”

Derek knew that was a lie, Laura could feel his presence stronger than he could feel hers.

“Oh hey!” Laura laughed as she leaned into Derek’s side, “You met Stiles!”

Derek coughed, “You know Stiles?”

“Duh!” Laura smiled, flicking Derek on the side of the head, “Stiles here is the first friend I made when I got back into town.”

“Friend?” Derek repeated.

Stiles grinned, “When I heard my dad arrested this like…impossibly hot girl for grabbing Mr. Harris by the neck and slamming him against the wall I just _had_ to meet her.”

Laura cackled, “Imagine my surprise when I look up from my self-loathing and find this fluffy little guy reeking of excitement on the other side of the bars.”

“Fluffy…” Derek shook his head.

“Mhm,” Stiles nodded, “I even let her rub my head.”

Derek was dumbfounded, he stared at Laura who only shrugged.

“What can I say? I have a weakness for a nice buzzcut!”

Derek sighed, “I’m sure the Sheriff appreciated you touching his underage son.”

Laura cackled again, “I’m pretty sure he gave us both the same conversation.”

Derek felt his cheeks heat up. _Of course_ Laura was listening when the Sheriff said something about Stiles to him.

Stiles looked confused. Confused and utterly excited.

As if on cue, the Sheriff stuck his head outside, “Stiles! Inside! Now!”

Stiles groaned, “Well, it was…nice meeting you to. And thank you for the head rubs, Laura. And…thank you, Derek. For the…apology.”

Laura’s hand fell to Stiles’ shoulder and lightly shook him, “Don’t mention it. We’ll be in town for a few days, maybe we’ll see you around before we head out.”

“Maybe,” Stiles smiled, his eyes flicking to Derek.

“Don’t count on it,” Derek said quickly, “I’m not staying here any longer than I have to.”

“Oh,” Stiles’ face fell again, his scent spiking with something confusing that Derek didn’t have the energy to sift through, “Well, it was nice to meet you for a few minutes then. Try not to commit anymore mass murder, huh big guy?”

Derek huffed in amusement, “I’ll try.”

 

 


	2. Breakfast For Three

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two

Breakfast For Three

 

Laura was the first person to break the tense silence that had fallen over the Prius in the five minutes between leaving the Sheriff’s station and pulling on the road.

“I’m sorry,” Laura repeated, “I should have listened to you.”

“I know,” Derek said, replying to both statements.

“How much do you hate me?” Laura asked, her voice small and entirely not Alpha-like at all.

Derek’s hands tightened on the wheel and he wondered, not for the first time, if he was going to be able to return this fucking car to the rental place without serious damage.

“I don’t hate you,” Derek said as he pulled the car to a stop at the red light in front of them.

“But you’re angry,” Laura said, matter of fact, “I can _feel_ it.”

“Obviously I’m angry!” Derek snapped, “I didn’t want you to come out here, I knew that letter had to be a trap! You just happen to get drawn back to this miserable hole of a town when there’s a string of violent animal killings going on? You just happen to get arrested for _assault_ and then drawn into said animal killing investigation?”

Derek saw Laura’s eyes briefly flash red out of the corner of his eye but ignored it, instead focusing on the road in front of him as he pulled through the now green light.

“I’m talking to you as my sister,” Derek said softly, “not my Alpha.”

“Go on,” Laura said, her voice trembling slightly.

“You were stupid,” Derek’s voice cracked, “You were stupid, I love you, and you’re all I have left. I spent the entire time you were gone thinking you were going to die out here and leave me alone. Fuck, Laur, when I got that call…”

“You’d know if I was dead before you got a call,” Laura said, trying to deflect.

“I know that!” Derek screamed, his voice coming out as a savage roar, “Why do you think I’ve barely slept in a week? I was scared to go to sleep, scared that I was going to wake up in the middle of the night and feel you _dead_!”

Derek could smell the tears rolling down Laura’s face.

“You’re all I have left,” Derek’s voice cracked, “You don’t know what it would do to me if I lost you. I wouldn’t be myself anymore.”

“I fucked up,” Laura said between tears.

“Yeah,” Derek agreed, “but you’re my sister and my Alpha and I fucking love you.”

Laura let out a watery laugh and Derek smiled as he felt her hand clasp around his wrist. He leaned into the touch as he followed Laura’s directions to their motel room and felt the tension ease out of his chest.

Derek knew he and Laura were fine, they had their blow up and he had his chance to say everything that he was holding inside. It was just the two of them, it had been for a long time, and all they could do was learn from this and do better next time.

“So,” Derek said as the rounded the corner to the motel, “you might as well tell me what you’ve found out.”

 

X

 

The first thing Derek did when he stepped into the dimly lit motel room that Laura rented for the week was pick up the small twin bed in the corner of the room and push it together with the one right next to it, creating a slightly bigger, but still terribly uncomfortable, bed.

Laura fell to the bed first, landing almost directly in the middle, and Derek shrugged off his jacket before falling into bed next to her. Derek curled his body around Laura’s, tucking himself under her arm and resting his head in the crook of her neck. He was content to spend the entire night next to his sister in silence with just her scent and the knowledge that she was safe to comfort him.

Laura had other plans.

“There’s another wolf in Beacon Hills,” Laura said grimly as she threaded her fingers through Derek’s hair, “it’s what has been killing those animals in the preserve.”

Derek huffed, “I figured. Any humans?”

Derek only felt Laura shake her head, “Not that I know of, I was keeping my ears open at the station but the only thing anyone talked about were animals. No missing persons either.”

Derek looked up and immediately saw the look on Laura’s face. Even though it was half obscured by her hair, Derek could tell that his sister was worried.

“Laura?”

“I left something out in my statement to the Sheriff,” Laura said, “I didn’t hit that deer when I came into town.”

“What?” Derek sat up, twisting on the bed to face Laura.

“I had the windows down when I pulled across the county line,” Laura said, “the second I made it into our territory I smelled something. It was…familiar but different at the same time.”

“What do you mean?” Derek questioned, “I didn’t smell anything when I got into town.”

“It smelled like pack, Derek,” Laura’s voice sent a chill down Derek’s spine, “but…it wasn’t pack. Not really. It smelled like a wolf from the Hale line but it was twisted, dark almost. Like it didn’t belong. I’ve never smelled anything like it, it made me so sick to my stomach I had to pull over.”

“What happened?”

“I heard something off in the preserve,” Laura said, “it was moving fast, faster than something as simple as an Omega should have been able to move. Then everything stopped, the sound went away, the smell vanished, and then the deer came flying from the woods.”

“The deer…flew?”

“No,” Laura laughed, brittle and hollow, “whatever was in the woods, whatever I smelled, it threw the deer at me.”

Derek blinked, “Another wolf threw a deer at you?”

“It was a warning, a challenge. Just like the picture and the letter. There was a spiral cut into the flank of the deer. Someone, _something_ , wanted me here. Whatever it was, it was trying to draw me into the woods. I knew I didn’t stand a chance against it, not alone and not without all the information, so I threw the fucking deer back at it.”

“You threw the deer back into the woods?” Derek’s eyebrows rose to his hairline.

“Yeah,” Laura laughed, “it was pretty bad ass, honestly. Whatever was out there must have skinned the deer after I threw it back and left the body in the woods after.”

“What about Harris?” Derek asked.

Laura groaned and rolled on her side, facing away from Derek, “Can we talk about my attempted assault tomorrow? I promise you, it’s not as exciting as it sounds. It’s not much we didn’t already know about the fire anyway, we just have a new name to put with a face.”

Derek fell back into the bed and wrapped his arms around Laura, “Fine.”

Laura let out a long sigh, “You know what else we have to do tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah,” Derek nodded, “Peter.”

Laura’s responding growl was low but strong enough to shake the entire bed. They both knew the same thing, there was only one living wolf alive that was part of the Hale line and he was currently comatose in a special ward in Beacon General.

 

X

 

Visiting hours, as it turned out, weren’t until 11am so Derek and Laura decided to head into town and stop for breakfast at the small diner their father used to take them to on the weekends. They sat in the same booth they’d sat at a hundred times before and they both remembered each other’s orders. It would have been nice, if a little melancholy, had it not been for the circumstances that drew them back to town.

“Alright,” Derek said as their waitress stepped away, “tell me about Harris.”

The entire reason Laura had come back to Beacon Hills was the unmarked letter they received over a week ago. The letter was in a blank envelope, with a single piece of paper inside. Scrawled across the white sheet was a simple sentence, ‘ **The truth about the Hale Fire begins with Adrian Harris.** ’

Laura and Derek had argued for the better part of a day about if they should trust the letter. Derek knew it was a trap and Laura did too, for the most part. But between the two of them Laura was always the one who needed to know everything about their family’s murder.

Part of the reason Derek didn’t want her coming back to Beacon Hills was because he didn’t want his sister to learn the part that he’d played in the fire. He didn’t want Laura to learn that he’d given Kate all the information she’d needed to kill their entire family. It had always driven Laura mad, she knew that Kate played a part in the fire but she could never figure out how she’d learned such intimate details about their home.

“I tracked him to the school,” Laura said before taking a sip of her coffee, “I found him in his classroom and he immediately knew who I was. His heart was about to beat out of his chest and you could have probably smelled his fear for miles. All it took was me throwing him around the room for a minute to get him to break and tell me everything he knew.”

“And?” Derek tensed, he knew Laura couldn’t have found anything too damming or else she wouldn’t be having this conversation with him. He’d been lying to her for so long that Derek knew she’d either have killed him or banished him from her pack.

“Harris was approached by a woman at a bar a few weeks before the fire,” Laura said, “he was drunk, she was hot and played up his ego. She knew he was a chemist and kept asking him questions about how to start fires, how to make it untraceable. He wouldn’t tell her anything so she took him into the bathroom, sucked his dick, and he told her how to kill our family without leaving a trace.”

Derek’s stomach dropped. It was what Kate did, she preyed on you, sought out all your weaknesses and used them against you, turned her body into a weapon and took and took from you until you were all used up. Then she either threw you to the side with a cruel laugh or murdered your entire family. Or, In Derek’s case, both.

“-erek, Derek!” Laura snapped her fingers in front of Derek’s face.

Derek’s vision refocused suddenly and he gasped for air, drawing in a deep breath and filling his lungs with oxygen. He hadn’t even realized he’d stopped breathing for a few minutes. He looked across the table and found Laura’s face filled with guilt and sorrow. She smelled of agony and regret.

“Fuck,” Laura ran a hand through her dark hair, “I shouldn’t have said anything. Fuck, I never should have come here.”

“It’s fine,” Derek’s voice came out as a painful rasp, “I…it’s just hard to think about everything.”

“I know,” Laura said softly, “we’ll leave after we take care of Peter, I promise. We never have to come back here.”

“Good,” Derek shuddered, “thank you.”

The door behind them opened, the small bell above it echoing through the diner, and Derek’s attention was caught by a familiar smell. It was less synthetic pharmaceuticals and more cherries and pine today.

“Stiles,” Laura grinned as the Stiles passed their table, “funny running into you here.”

“Laura!” Stiles’ face lit up, “Just the woman I wanted to see!”

“Oh?” Laura laughed, settling back into the booth.

Derek looked up at the clock, it was 8am on a Tuesday, “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

Stiles turned his gaze towards Derek and glared, “Actually, that’s why I’m here and why I need to thank your sister who’s about a hundred times the conversationalist that you are.”

Laura cackled, the witch.

“You won’t catch me arguing with that one,” Laura winked, “my little brother could stand to take a few public speaking classes.”

“Tell me about it,” Stiles laughed as he fell into the booth next to Laura.

“Sure Stiles,” Derek glared, “sit with us, please. It’s not like we were talking about anything important.”

Stiles scoffed and kicked Derek under the table, “I knew your apology was bullshit.”

Laura gasped, “Derek _apologized_ to you for something?”

Stiles shrugged, “Supposedly. But I think when you apologize to someone for being a dick you’re supposed to not be a dick to them again less than 24 hours later.”

Derek growled.

Laura Glared.

Stiles spoke, “Anyway, Laura! You’ve literally saved my life! If my dad ever arrests you again I’m personally going to spring you, Prison Break style.”

Derek allowed himself a small smile at that and Stiles’ face lit up when he caught the sight of it. Derek followed it up with a stern glare just to be safe.

“What did I do?” Laura laughed.

Stiles leaned in close, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you storm into the school like the badass warrior princess that you are and slam Mr. Harris against a wall and then he puts in his formal registration a few hours later and flees town in the middle of the night.”

Derek choked on his coffee, “You made Harris _flee town?”_

Laura shrugged, “I mean, I didn’t know he would flee. I just happened to mention that I would be sticking around town for a while and that the sheriff might not be so close by for our next interaction. I can’t really control the fact that he took it as some kind of threat.”

Laura glanced down at Stiles and her eyes went wide, “Not that it was a threat or anything.”

Stiles laughed, “Anything I hear is inadmissible in a court of law.”

Laura grinned, all teeth, “I like you.”

Stiles’ scent spiked, but it wasn’t the expected arousal that you’d assume would come from a teenager. It was…bright happiness.

Stiles blushed and ducked his head, “Thank you.”

Laura smiled and rubbed Stiles’ head. Stiles leaned into the touch, not wanting anything more than simple affection. He seemed to be touch starved.

“So fuzzy,” Laura grinned.

It took Derek a second to realize what Laura was doing. She was scenting Stiles, it seemed mostly subconscious but it was obvious that Laura had formed some kind of attachment with Stiles.

“Can I buy you breakfast?” Stiles asked, “As payment for ridding me of the bane of my existence?”

Laura laughed, “I don’t think you can afford the amount of food that Derek eats.”

Stiles smiled and turned his face back to Derek, “Oh, I wasn’t offering to buy him food, just you.”

Laura cackled. Again.

“I love you,” Laura rubbed Stiles’ head again, “I appreciate the offer but we ordered our food to go, we’ve got somewhere we need to be in a little bit.”

“Oh,” Stiles deflated a little bit, “Yeah, that’s cool, I need to get to school before second period anyway.”

Stiles lifted himself out of the booth abruptly and made his way towards the door.

Laura frowned, “Hey, Stiles?”

Stiles paused with his hand on the door, “Yeah?”

“How about later?” Laura smiled, “Lunch or something? I can tell you the details I left out of my statement, which may or may not include Harris actually crying.”

Stiles’ eyes went wide, “Seriously?”

Laura laughed and nodded.

“Is Derek going to be there?” Stiles asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know,” Laura turned her grin on Derek, “do you want Derek to be there?”

Derek didn’t need to look at Stiles to see the flush that crept up his face, “I mean, he’s not _terrible_ company when he’s not talking.”

Laura winked a Derek before grabbing a napkin from the table and writing her number down with the pen their waitress left at their table. Stiles came back and took the napkin from her hands and stuffed it in his pocket.

“That’s my number,” Laura smiled, “text me yours and we can set something up, we’ll be in town for a few more days at least.”

“Yeah,” Stiles nodded, “I…thanks.”

Laura smiled and nodded as Stiles turned again to leave.

Stiles was hallway out of the door before Derek spoke, “Stiles?”

Derek heard Stiles sputter, turn, and crash into the door in his haste to answer Derek, “Yes, uh, hi. Yes?”

Derek huffed, amused, “Have a good day.”

Stiles grinned, the same happy and content smell returning, “Thanks, dude. You too.”

Derek and Laura were silent for a few moments as they watched Stiles walk across the parking lot to his old Jeep.

Derek was the first to break the silence, “Why are you so nice to him?”

Laura rolled her eyes, “Not everyone has to be so serious all the time.”

“I just…don’t get it.”

Laura sighed, “He’s nice, funny, and fucking adorable. And it was honestly refreshing to meet a 16-year-old who didn’t immediately smell like he wanted to fuck me upon first impression.”

Derek winced, “I don’t need to even think about that.”

Laura rolled her eyes again, her face softened before she spoke, “He’s lonely, I think.”

“Stiles?” Derek asked, it made sense though.

“I heard him talking at the station, he’s got like one friend who’s all but abandoned him for the girl he’s trying to date, his dad is the Sheriff who works too much and I heard them have a ten-minute-long argument about how the Sheriff should eat better because Stiles is afraid his dad is going to have a heart attack and leave him too.”

Derek frowned, he felt like a dick for being a dick.

“Even through all of that though he’s funny as shit and I can already tell he’s smart as fuck,” Laura smiled, “he’d make a good wolf.”

Derek blinked, “Laura, please tell me you’re not thinking about giving him the bite.”

Laura gasped, “God, Derek, no! Who in their right mind would go around biting teenagers for the hell of it? It was just a general statement.”

Derek felt his shoulders sag in relief, “So you’re just going to be his friend for a few days and then leave town?”

Laura shrugged, “I don’t know, I figured I could like…give him a pep talk or something. Let him know that he’s not alone or something, that there’s more to the world than Beacon Hills or the dumb people in it. Give him life advice, let him know that my broodingly handsome brother is both very single and very bisexual.”

Derek choked on his coffee, “Fucking…”

Laura rolled her eyes and dropped her voice low in a mockery of Derek’s voice, “Have a good day, Stiles. Kiss me, Stiles. Make love to me, Stiles. Hold me, Stiles.”

Derek felt his face heat up, “Christ, Laura! He’s a teenager!”

There were so many things wrong with that idea. Derek couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t be someone like Kate. He _refused_.

“And you’re an emotionally repressed 21-year-old werewolf which puts you mentally at about 18, it’s not that big of a deal. Mom met dad when she was 19 and he was 15.”

“That…” Derek trailed off, “It’s different. Mom was a born wolf and dad was a human member of another pack, it’s not the same.”

Laura sighed, “I’m not telling you to go crawl through his window and get in his bed, but he obviously thinks you’re cute so it couldn’t hurt you to be nice to him.”

Derek growled, “I’m not going to lead a teenager on!”

Laura pinched the bridge of her nose, “You can have a civil conversation with him without him thinking you want to fuck him, just try to maybe not imply that he’s stupid or that you don’t want him around.”

“Whatever,” Derek mumbled, getting up from the table and picking up his and Laura’s breakfast from the counter, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Whatever,” Laura rolled her eyes, “I’ll let you off the hook _for now._ We should leave for the hospital now anyway.”

“Right.” Derek nodded as he made his way back to the table.

Time to pay Uncle Peter a visit.

 


	3. Hospitals and High Schools

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three

Hospitals and High Schools

 

“Remind me again why we’re eating in this tiny little car instead of the nice, comfortable diner?” Laura asked between bites of her breakfast burrito.

“Because,” Derek said as he licked the ketchup off of his thumb, “it’s weird and morbid and I didn’t want to do it.”

Laura laughed, “Because eating breakfast from styrofoam containers in the parking lot of the hospital where our uncle, who may or may not actually be comatose, is being taken care of _isn’t_ morbid?”

“Peter isn’t dead,” Derek shrugged, “Speaking of Peter, what are you planning on accomplishing in there?”

Laura was quiet for a moment. Derek had tried to picture scenarios in his head of how his sister was going to determine if Peter was faking his condition and none of the ideas he came up with seemed like they’d keep Laura off of the Sheriff’s radar.

Laura sat her burrito down in its box, “I want to smell him first, see if I can catch any trace of what I smelled on the road into town.”

“And then what?”

“Then we play it by ear, see if I can figure out some way to get him to reveal himself. An Alpha roar would probably work.”

Derek sputtered, “An Alpha roar in the middle of a hospital?”

Laura sighed, “Therein lies the problem, pup.”

“We could- “

Derek cut Laura off before she could even finish, “I’m not helping you kidnap Uncle Peter from the hospital.”

Laura huffed, “You’re no fun.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be trying to not do illegal things while you’re in town?” Derek shook his head.

Laura groaned, “I can’t help it if the town makes doing illegal things necessary!”

The alarm on Derek’s phone went off and he and Laura paused. They shared a look as Derek silenced his phone and turned the alarm off.

Laura pushed the passenger side door open and stepped out of the car, “Visiting hours have officially begun.”

Derek followed his sister into the hospital after locking the car behind them. The hospital itself wasn’t anything special, it looked like it had gotten a slight revamp since the last time Derek was there but he’d tried to put that entire night out of his mind. There wasn’t much he remembered from the aftermath of the fire except for the smell of burning bodies and the taste of terrible guilt.

Laura’s face was a blank slate. Derek had seen it before; his sister had gone into full on Alpha mode. Laura described it as a way for her to do what she needed to do without having to worry about her emotions or feelings getting in the way. It was an armor she could put on to block out the years of pain and hurt and the terrible dread that Derek knew his sister was feeling about stepping foot in the hospital again.

Laura remembered much more than Derek did about that night.

It had been years since either of them had been inside the hospital so the first thing they both managed to do while trying to find Peter was to get lost. They stood in the same spot for several minutes, spinning in circles while trying to use their enhanced senses to locate Peter. The hospital was too muddled, too filled with the stench of pain, death, and antiseptic that it made locating Peter by smell almost impossible.

“Are you going to be able to smell what you smelled on whatever attacked you in here?” Derek asked.

Laura nodded, “I’m never going to forget that smell, Derek.”

They wandered through the hallways for a few more minutes, this time trying to use the hospital directory and confusing arrows on the wall to find the proper ward for Peter.

When that failed, Derek decided to go to the nearest nurse’s station to ask for directions. Derek settled against the closest counter as he waited for someone to help him.

It took a few minutes but Derek was eventually greeted by a woman with curly brown hair, tan skin, and kind eyes.

“Can I help you?” The nurse, Nurse McCall her nametag read, asked.

“Hi,” Laura smiled, coming up silently behind Derek, “my brother and I are looking for our uncle, we can’t seem to make sense of the map of this place.”

Nurse McCall laughed, “Tell me about it, I’ve been here for over a decade and I still get lost once a week. What’s your uncle’s name?”

“Peter,” Derek offered, “Peter Hale.”

Nurse McCall froze, obviously recognizing the name. To her credit though she immediately recovered and didn’t offer the same, ‘ _you’re Laura and Derek_ ,’ comment that everyone else seemed to.

“Head down to the end of this hallway,” Nurse McCall pointed in the direction opposite of the nurse’s station, “take a left, then take the elevator up to the third floor and go through the first set of double doors. That will take you to the long-term care ward, the nurses up there should be able to direct you to your uncle.”

Derek nodded, “Thank you.”

Nurse McCall smiled, “You’re welcome, you two take care.”

Laura smiled in return before grabbing Derek by the elbow and pulling him down the hallway in the direction that Nurse McCall indicated.

The elevator opened to the third floor and Derek’s hand instinctively found Laura’s, squeezing harder than necessary. Compared to the rest of the hospital, the long-term care ward was filled with an overwhelming scent of sadness. Derek felt like he could taste the lingering tears of family members who sat by the bedside of their unresponsive loved ones at all hours of the day.  

Laura’s thumb swept over the back of Derek’s hand in a soothing motion, “Let’s go, Peter is this way.”

Derek paused for a moment before hesitantly trying to pick up the same scent that Laura caught. Once he filtered through the other smells of the floor he was able to pick Peter out. Peter smelled like sickness, cheap soap, and family.

“I don’t smell anything out of the ordinary?” Derek said hesitantly.

Laura’s eyes flashed red briefly, “Neither do I, he just smells like Peter.”

They continued down the hall before coming to a stop at the door to Peter’s room. Peter was in a wheelchair that was parked next to the large bay windows on the wall, the windows that looked out into the open expanse of the preserve. It would be the perfect place for a not so vegetative werewolf to disappear into in the middle of the night.

“How did he get into the chair?” Laura wondered out loud.

Derek caught the sound of footsteps leading towards Peter’s room and turned to face a nurse who was approaching. Her hair was tied back in a bun and her name, according to her lanyard, was Jennifer.

“We move him to the window for a few hours every day,” Jennifer said, “studies show that patients in states such as his can often still see what’s going on around them even if they can’t react or process it. We figured it would be nice for him to see something other than florescent lighting and pink walls.”

Derek nodded, “That’s very nice, I’m sure our uncle appreciates it if he’s aware.”

Jennifer took a step back, “Oh my, you’re Laura and Derek?”

Laura stepped forward with a soft smile, “Yes, we just got back into town for a few days to settle some things and we thought we would come visit Uncle Peter.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” Jennifer said, “it’s been years since he’s had an actual visitor.”

Years. The idea made Derek’s gut twist in grief. He’d had his issues with Peter over the years, and they were numerous and fucked up, but he was still family. The last of his family besides Laura. They’d left Peter alone for years and now he might be some kind of monster because of it.

Derek shuddered and walked towards the window, coming to a stop next to Peter while Laura continued to talk to Jennifer.

“Are you Peter’s full-time nurse?” Laura asked.

“One of them,” Jennifer nodded, “each patient in this ward has four full-time nurses, one for the day and one for the evening and then we trade off, but for the most part I’ve been working with Peter for the past four years.”

“Has there been any change? I know if something major had happened that the hospital would have called us…but you’re around him so much that maybe you’ve noticed something small? Twitches of fingers? Blinking? Anything?”

“It’s common for patients with Peter’s condition to exhibit some signs of interaction such as blinking or twitches, but there’s no way for us to know for sure if it’s a true response or just an automatic signal from the body. His bi-monthly brain scan hasn’t indicted any change since he was admitted to this floor full time.”

Laura let out a long sigh, “Thank you, Jennifer. Do you mind if we have some alone time with our Uncle?”

Jennifer shook her head, “Not at all, I’ll be down the hall at the nurse’s station and you can press the red button on the wall if you need me.”

Laura nodded and turned back towards Peter. She waited for Jennifer to leave the room and take her seat at the station down the hall before she crouched down in front of Peter and let her eyes turn red.

“Listen to me, asshole,” Laura glared, “if you’re in there and you were the one who wanted me to come back here you better say something right the hell now.”

Derek tensed as he listened to Peter’s heart. There was no change, no small blip to indicate that he’d heard anything that Laura said. Peter’s breathing remained steady and there was no change to his scent at all.

“Fine,” Laura growled, “if that’s how you want to play it.”

Laura held up her index finger and checked over her shoulder before she let herself shift slightly and produce a single, sharp claw. She held it up to Peter’s face, pressing lightly into his unscarred cheek.

“Laura!” Derek snapped.

Laura glanced up at Derek before retracting her claw, “Relax, pup.”

Derek sighed and leaned against the window, “I don’t think he’s in there Laura.”

Laura pushed herself up from the ground and nodded her head towards the door. Derek followed after her, staying silent as they made their way down the hall and back to the elevator to take them to the first floor of the hospital. Laura didn’t speak until they were in the car and down the street from the hospital.

“He’s either faking it, and don’t give me that look because it’s _Peter_ , if anyone could fake a vegetative state it would be him.”

Derek nodded, “Or?”

“Or,” Laura said, “he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Derek raised his eyebrows, “How would that even be possible?”

Laura straightened in her seat, “Mom told me a story once about a wolf who was so badly injured that the human part of his body wouldn’t allow his wolf healing to trigger.”

Derek nodded, Deaton had told them this was probably the case with Peter before they left Beacon Hills for good six years ago.

“It separated something within him, the wolf and the human. The human part stayed injured and catatonic. But something changed after a few full moons and the wolf part found a way to break free, the man shifted almost every night and essentially went feral from sundown to sunrise. But when the sun came up, the man was back to the weakened state his human body left him in.”

“What happened?” Derek asked.

Laura frowned, “He got out one night, got away from his pack and killed a child. Hunters got involved and I’m sure you can guess the rest of the story.”

Derek’s hands tightened on the wheel, “So you think that it’s possible that Peter is shifting without knowing and escaping the hospital without anyone realizing every single night?”

“No,” Laura shook her head, “if that’s really what’s happened then it just started recently, there’s no way that there wouldn’t have been any sign for the last six years.”

“That doesn’t explain the letter,” Derek said, “or the fact that Peter, or whatever it was, tried to attack you on your way into town.”

Laura growled, “I know, Derek! I just…I don’t know what to do. If this is Peter then it’s our responsibility, we can’t just leave and let him shift again and hurt someone. What if he kills someone?”

Derek slowed the car and pulled over on the side of the road, he put the car in park and turned towards Laura, “Are you telling me you want to stay here?”

Laura’s breath hitched, “Not forever, but Peter is family. Pack. I’m the Alpha and if one of my Beta’s is out of control then I have to stop it. What if Peter kills someone and Hunters become involved. They won’t stop with Peter! They’ll track us down and use the fact that I couldn’t control a member of my own pack as the flimsy justification they’d need to kill me too.”

Derek growled, loud enough that it shook the windows of the small car, “No. No, don’t say that.”

Derek felt his heart start to race. All he could picture was Laura, dead, cut in half, a lifeless husk in front of him. He thought of himself alone in the world as an Omega with no family and no pack left.

Laura’s hand gripped the back of Derek’s neck, squeezing tightly, “Come back to me, Derek. Listen to my heart. Breathe with me.”

Derek focused in on Laura’s heartbeat and the sound of her lungs expanding and contracting, it took a few minutes but he was eventually able to match her. His vision came back to him slowly, the dark tunnel that had clouded his peripheries dissipating and allowing him to see Laura’s soft smile.

“I…” Derek breathed, “I can’t stay here but…I can’t let anything happen to you. I don’t know what to do.”

Laura increased the pressure on Derek’s neck slightly, “The full moon is tomorrow night, we’ll watch Peter and see if anything happens. If the wolf is going to take over then it would make sense for it to happen during the full moon. If it is Peter, we stop him. If it isn’t, we regroup and plan our next move. If it comes down to it then I can reach out to one of mom’s old contacts, a pack a couple hundred miles from here. We could offer them the territory in exchange for stopping the threat.”

“You’d give up our territory?” Derek blinked, Laura was always prideful about Hale land. Even if they didn’t currently live on it, it still belonged to them and Laura always took comfort in that fact. The notion that she’d be willing to give up their entire territory for Derek’s sake was…Derek couldn’t even think of a word impactful enough.

“I’d give up anything to protect you, pup. I’m saying this as your sister, not your Alpha. You’re the most important thing that I have left in this world and it’s killing me that you’re in pain right now just by being here. If I have to give up our family’s land to stop you from hurting then I’d do it in a heartbeat. I know mom would understand, she always wanted what was best for us.”

Derek ran a hand through his hair and leaned into Laura’s side, “Let’s just see what happens tomorrow night with Peter.”

Laura smiled and rested her chin on top of Derek’s head, “Sounds like a plan.”

“What about tonight?” Derek asked, “Are we going to watch Peter?”

Laura shook her head, “I want to look around the preserve, start near the hospital and see if I can pick up the scent from the other night.”

“Full shift?” Derek asked her.

“Yeah,” Laura said, running her hand over the top of Derek’s head one final time, “if something is out there it’ll be easier for me to pick up on as a wolf.”

“It’s been awhile since you’ve shifted fully.” Derek said, matter of fact.

Laura sighed, “Not many places for a giant wolf to run around in the streets of New York. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it, stretching my four legs in our own territory. Especially if it’s the last time I’ll be able to do it.”

Derek whined.

“Hey,” Laura said softly, “I didn’t mean it like that and you know it.”

Derek closed his eyes.

“Alright,” Laura laughed, “out of the car, I’m driving now.”

“What?” Derek looked at Laura, “Where are we going?”

Laura shrugged and grinned as she opened the door, “Dunno, haven’t decided yet.”

Derek rolled his eyes as he got out of the car. He knew his sister well enough to know that was a lie even without enhanced senses.

 

X

 

“No,” Derek said immediately as he realized where Laura was taking them, “absolutely not. You’re insane.”

Laura winked as she pulled into the parking lot of Beacon Hills High.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Laura asked with a sharp grin.

“You could get arrested, I could get arrested.”

“No one is going to get arrested, Derek.” Laura rolled her eyes, “I’ve been dying to get a look at the place in the daylight.”

“What about the students?” Derek shook his head, “We’re not exactly subtle.”

“Look at the parking lot, there’s no one here.” Laura smiled.

Derek looked around and realized that the parking lot was mostly empty save for a few cars. One of which happened to be Stiles’ Jeep. Derek looked down at his watch and frowned.

“It’s only 1pm, where the hell is everyone?”

Laura handed her phone to Derek, the Beacon Hills High website was open with large, red letters proclaiming that today was an early release day.

Laura snatched her phone back and cracked her knuckles, “See! We’re fine! And according to Stiles, Harris is gone so there’s nothing to worry about. I just want to go inside and take a look around, see if I can find your team photos from baseball and basketball.”

Derek’s jaw dropped, “No! No, I draw the line there.”

Laura cackled, “C’mon, pup. I haven’t seen you with those big ears in so long!”

Derek growled, “You’re the worst.”

Laura opened the door and jumped out of the car, “I know!”

Derek sat in silence as he watched his sister make her way into the school. He waited until she was up the front steps and had disappeared though the double doors before he begrudgingly followed her.

Laura’s forehead was already pressed to a glass display case by the time he found her. He arrived just in time to see her extending two claws to use as lock picks.

“Seriously?” Derek sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“What?” Laura said, not even bothering to look up at Derek while she worked, “I need to this picture in my life at all times.”

Derek shook his head and came up behind Laura, leaning over her shoulder to see what picture she was talking about. Derek froze when he saw the photo.

It was a black and white photo of his teenage self with a giant grin being hoisted on the shoulders of his basketball team after scoring the winning basket at the regional game. Derek’s face was discreetly angled away from the camera and it appeared in the photo as if he was looking across the gym at something else entirely.

Derek remembered the night vividly. He remembered having to cover his ears as the crowd screamed when he scored, he remembered the feelingly of weightlessness as his entire team lifted him off the ground, and he remembered Paige’s blindingly white smile from across the gym as she jumped up and down and waved her pompoms at him.

It was the last game before Paige died.  

“Got it,” Laura laughed as the lock popped open, she pushed the glass door to the side and deftly lifted the photo off of the shelf and pried it out of its frame.

Derek’s self-control wavered. He ripped the photo from Laura’s hands, claws extended, and shredded it until there was nothing but tiny pieces of photo paper in a pile on the ground beneath his feet.

“Derek!” Laura yelped, “What the hell?”

Derek stared at the pile on the ground, he could feel his teeth extending and his brow contracting. He was vaguely aware of Laura out of the corner of his eye, crouched low and ready to take him down if she had to.

Derek felt utterly pathetic. He’d been doing so well for the past few months, it had been so long since he’d lost control like this. All it took was Beacon Hills and a few bad memories to set him back, to snap his thin grasp on control.

Derek swallowed.

Laura. Cora. His father. His mother.

He repeated the list in his head, imagining all their faces smiling and laughing. Imagining them happy as a family before they were torn apart. They were his anchor, along with the rest of the Hale line that died that night in the fire. Derek got himself under control for them, to honor the memory of the ones who were lost and to fight for the one that was still with him.

Slowly, Derek felt himself relax. His teeth returned to normal, he felt his brow settle back into place, and his hands slowly straightened as his claws retracted. Laura was in front of him when he opened his eyes, her stance calm and her mouth forming the smallest of smiles.

“Hi,” Laura said softly.

“Fuck,” Derek rasped, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Laura shook her head, “you did good.”

“I…” Derek trailed off, “thank you for letting me get myself under control.”

“I knew you could do it,” Laura pulled him into a tight hug, “wanna talk about it?”

Derek broke away from the hug and shook his head, “Not right now.”

“Alright,” Laura said, “I’ll be here when you do.”

Derek nodded tightly, “I…I need some fresh air. Alone. For a minute.”

“Ok,” Laura smiled, “I’ll be here, I want to see if I can find the pictures of me on Homecoming Court.”

Derek nodded and turned on his heel, not quite running but not quite walking back to the front door and out into the parking lot. The wind that hit his skin was a welcome relief from the stale air in the high school. The scent outside was far less saturated with teenage hormones and self-loathing.

Admittedly, the scent of self-loathing could have belonged to Derek. He wasn’t entirely sure.

Derek crossed the lawn of the school until he came to a stop under a large tree and leaned against it. He ran his hands across the rough bark and let the feeling ground him. He tipped his head towards the sky and inhaled deeply. His senses flared to life as he took in the smell of the world around him. The familiar scents of the preserve wafted from the trees nearby but it was the scent of cherries and pine that caused Derek to pause.

Derek shouldn’t have been surprised that Stiles was in the area. They were at his school and Derek saw his Jeep when they pulled in. What Derek didn’t expect, was to smell Stiles outside and for that scent to be accompanied by the smell of sweat and pain.

Stiles was somewhere nearby and he was in pain.

Derek pushed himself off of the tree and quickly found himself traveling in Stiles’ general direction. Derek didn’t know why he felt such a frantic need to help Stiles if he was in pain but he’d worry about that later.

As Derek got closer to where Stiles seemed to be he paused. He could hear the sounds of other voices, teenagers yelling at each other. Then a sharp whistle.

Sports.

Stiles was practicing.

Derek felt like an idiot.

He moved closer anyway. Just to be sure.

The field came into view and Derek’s eyes roamed over a dozen or so students all dressed in grey and maroon with netted sticks over their shoulders.

Lacrosse, Derek’s mind helpfully supplied.

Derek quickly found Stiles among the group. He was easy to spot, laying on the ground face first with only the ‘ **Stilinski’** on the back of his jersey visible.

“Jesus, Stilinski,” one of the guys closest to him said, “are you always this fucking useless.”

Derek growled.

“Bite me, Jackson,” Stiles spat back as he pushed himself off of the ground and brushed the grass off of the front of his body.

Derek growled again.

“I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” The guy, Jackson, sneered, “Bet you’d like it if Lydia and I took turns. As if that would ever happen.”

“Dude!” Another boy said as he stood in front of Stiles defensively, though his long shaggy hair made him look more like a puppy than a guard dog, “Don’t be an ass.”

“Whatever, McCall,” Jackson rolled his eyes, “it’s not like you or Stilinski will ever make it off of the bench, what’s it matter to me if Stilinski can’t run in a straight line and you can’t move more than three feet without needing an inhaler.”

Before Stiles or the other boy could respond a sharp whistle cut through the air. Derek winced at the surprise sound.

“Hello!” the older man at center field yelled, “If you’re done braiding each other’s hair, could we please get back to practice so this sorry excuse for a team even has a chance at this weekend’s game?”

“Yes, Coach.” All the boys responded in unison.

Stiles kept his position while the boy with long hair and Jackson ran to the other side of the field. Derek watched as the small skirmish continued, marveling at the way Stiles barely seemed to be able to stay upright. It looked like it was a legitimate challenge for him to even stand upright and hold the lacrosse stick at the same time.

Derek had never seen anything like it and he could feel his lips turning upward into a small smile.

The one thing Derek didn’t expect, however, was for Stiles to see him. It seemed as if Stiles’ attention easily drifted from the match in front of him and his eyes began to scan the areas surrounding the field.

It didn’t take Stiles long to find Derek. Derek was standing in the middle of an open field and wearing a leather jacket, he wasn’t exactly being subtle.

Stiles’ eyes went wide, wide enough for Derek to see even from a short distance away, and he froze in the middle of the field. He was so focused on Derek that he didn’t see the ball coming towards his head.

Derek wanted to do something. He knew that he could make it to Stiles in time to pull him out of the way of the ball but there would be a crowd of witnesses and no easy way to explain why he was watching a high school lacrosse practice or how he managed to move quickly enough to cross half a football field and pull Stiles out of the way of an incoming ball.

Which meant all Derek could do was watch, and wince in sympathy, as the lacrosse ball collided with the side of Stiles’ head and Stiles once again fell face first into the grass.


	4. Twice Shy,

 

 

 

 

Chapter Four

Twice Shy,

 

The last thing Stiles saw was Derek.

Derek Hale. Watching him play lacrosse. Well, play was probably a gross exaggeration.

Derek Hale watched him get brained by a lacrosse ball.

Fuck.

“Stiles! Holy shit!”

Stiles blinked as Scott’s face came into view, “Why are you upside down?”

Scott was pushed out of the way and his face was quickly replaced with Finstock’s less handsome, more terrifying face.

“No,” Stiles mumbled, “bring Scott’s face back.”

Finstock glared, “If you’re coherent enough to be a smart ass I’m not calling you an ambulance.”

“No!” Stiles said quickly, sitting up entirely too fast and just barely holding on to his lunch, “no ambulance! I’m good! Fit as a whistle! Wait...I don’t think that’s how that goes.”

“Ah hell,” Finstock sighed, rubbing his hand across his forehead, “you’re done for today Bilinski. Can I trust you to make it to the locker room without killing yourself on the way there?”

Stiles looked around, everyone still seemed to be moving a little to the left.

“I’ll take him,” Scott offered.

“Of course,” Jackson rolled his eyes, “McCall wants to be with his boyfriend.”

Stiles decided if he was going to puke then it was going to be on Jackson.

“McCall, you’re staying here! I need you to be ready for next weekend in case Greenberg decides to go to Del Taco an hour before the game like last week.”

“Wait!” Scott’s mood improved a little too quickly for Stiles’ liking, “I might play?”

Finstock glared again, “Don’t bug me about it.”

Scott deflated, but only a little.

Finstock jammed his finger at Stiles, “You. Locker room.”

Stiles sighed, pushed himself off the ground, and used Scott’s arm to steady himself. He briefly looked for a glimpse of Derek Hale and frowned internally when he didn’t see him. Maybe he got hit with the ball sooner than he thought and Derek’s appearance was part of his head trauma.

Scott gripped his shoulder until Stiles stopped swaying, “Hang out until practice is over and I’ll drive you to my mom, she’s off this afternoon. She can make sure you don’t have a concussion.”

Stiles nodded and shrugged. There was still half an hour left of practice, as long as he didn’t fall asleep and slip into a coma in between now and Scott finishing up then he’d be fine. Probably.

The scrimmage resumed the second that Stiles was off the field. It took him a second to orient himself but he followed the usual sidewalk from the athletics field to the boy’s locker room with relative ease. He managed to make it about half of the way without an incident.

Until.

“Hey,” a deep voice came from behind Stiles.

Stiles flailed, naturally, surprised by the voice behind him. Next, he was falling face first towards the cement sidewalk and the only thing he could think was that his dad was going to be pissed and that broken noses are probably expensive.

Stiles didn’t hit the ground though. Stiles blinked in confusion as he felt himself suspended in midair. He was pulled upwards and repositioned by the hand that was wrapped around his bicep and he spun to face whoever was behind him as soon as he was released.

“Derek,” Stiles gaped, “I thought you were part of my head trauma.”

Derek huffed, “You saw me before you got hit.”

“Oh,” Stiles hummed, “everything got a little scrambled.”

Stiles emphasized his point by flailing his arms around his head, a move he regretted the second he made it.

Derek’s eyes narrowed, “Are you OK?”

Stiles shrugged, “Possible concussion but I don’t think there’s anything else wrong with me aside from the usual.”

Derek huffed, Stiles was beginning to realize that it was Derek’s go to mechanism, “There’s nothing usually wrong with you.”

“Oh,” Stiles felt himself heating up.

Derek leaned closer, he slipped a finger under Stiles’ chin and tipped his head up towards the sky. Derek leaned in closer, squinting his eyes, before leaning back and holding a single finger in front of Stiles’ face. Derek told him to follow his finger with his eyes, Stiles went along with it because when someone as hot as Derek Hale tells you to watch his fingers then you damn well better watch his fingers.

“You don’t have a concussion,” Derek said definitively.

Stiles blinked, “I didn’t know you were a doctor.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “I’m not.”

They were both silent for a few seconds until Derek grimaced.

“My cousins,” Derek trailed off briefly before recovering, “my cousins were always hitting their heads because they tried so hard to keep up with my sisters and I but they weren’t as…resilient as we were. They didn’t bounce back as fast so my mom taught us how to check for a few things in case we were alone with them, one of them being a concussion.”

“Oh,” Stiles whispered, “thank you.”

He knew about the Hale’s. Everyone in Beacon Hills knew about the Hale’s and the fire that killed their entire extended family, aside from Derek, Laura, and their Uncle Peter. Stiles frowned, almost everyone Derek mentioned in his story was dead.

Before Stiles could dwell on it, Derek spoke, “You should sit down.”

Stiles nodded, relieved that he didn’t feel quite as nauseous after moving his head as he did a few seconds ago, “The locker room is over there.”

Derek cringed and took about three steps backwards, “I’m not going in there.”

Stiles sputtered, “It wasn’t like I was inviting you to watch me change or something!”

Derek gaped, “I…no… _the smell_. I’m not going in there because it smells.”

“Oh!” Stiles laughed, “Ok, yeah, I can’t fault you on that one.”

Stiles paused. Did that mean Derek Hale _did_ want to watch him change or something? Stiles coughed and decided to file away that thought until later. Much later.

“There’s benches on the other side of the locker room…we could sit there?” Stiles hesitated, “I mean, not that you _want_ to sit with me. You totally don’t have to.”

Derek laughed, slightly, “It’s fine, I can wait with you. I’m avoiding Laura anyway.”

Stiles gasped, “Why would you want to avoid Laura?”

Derek’s eyebrows drew together, “You’ve met her.”

Stiles shrugged, “True. She’s a bit…much. But then again, so am I.”

Derek nodded and motioned for Stiles to start moving, “That’s probably why she likes you.”

“She got rid of Mr. Harris, she could be a serial killer and I’d still like her. I’d probably try to harbor her from my dad.”

“Don’t give her any ideas.”

Stiles snorted, “I’d be her getaway driver.”

Derek laughed, “You don’t seem like the type of person built for a hardened life of crime.”

“You’d know all about that, huh? Mr. Tall, Dark, and Leather Jacket.”

Stiles cringed inwardly, he’d only barely managed to resist calling Derek handsome to his face.

Derek hummed thoughtfully, “This jacket has seen a lot of things.”

“I bet,” Stiles mumbled. He didn’t want to think about what exactly that jacket had seen. Well, he did. But…later. Tonight. Alone. Again.

If Derek heard he didn’t acknowledge it, instead continuing on, “I got it the first winter after Laura and I moved to New York. None of the warmer clothes I’d gotten a few months before fit me anymore because of how often I’d worked out.”

Stiles laughed, “A moment of silence for the poor sweater that tried to accommodate your newly formed biceps.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Anyway, Laura gave it to me one day when she found me sitting on the fire escape of our building in the middle of a snowstorm.”

“Hardcore,” Stiles said.

“I was punishing myself,” Stiles assumed from the way Derek quickly stopped talking that Derek hadn’t meant to say that out loud, “she threw the jacket at me and told me if I ever lost it she’d buy me a new one just so she could hang me with it.”

Stiles smiled, politely ignoring Derek’s unintended emotional slip, “And you’ve worn it ever since.”

Derek nodded, “I didn’t take it off for almost a month.”

“Smart man,” Stiles laughed, “I bet New York is nice.”

Derek looked over at Stiles and their eyes met. Stiles, for the first time in his life, couldn’t think of anything to say and the silence stretched out for a few comfortable seconds before Derek spoke.

“It’ll never be home, but that’s fine. I don’t like home much anymore.”

If Stiles were anyone but himself he’d find it weird and slightly creepy that he was having an unintentional, and roundabout, emotionally charged conversation with a guy a few years older than him while sitting outside of a high school locker room. But since Stiles was himself he felt like he understood a little bit.

Stiles had always longed for someone that he could talk to without any fear of judgment. The only people he’d really ever had since his mother died were his father and Scott. Stiles knew his dad already dealt with enough at work and he would never think about adding to his father’s ever-growing list of problems.

It was better for the both of them if Stiles let his father believe that he was happy and content with his life.

Scott, on the other hand, used to be his go to person. But things had changed recently ever since Allison Argent had moved back to town. Allison and Scott had been engaged in some kind of weird courting ritual for the last few weeks, both obviously interested in each other but neither of them willing to make a move beyond asking for a pen or to borrow a textbook.

His father was focused on work. Scott was focused on Allison. And Stiles was trapped in his own head without any real outlet.

“Stiles?” Derek’s voice broke through the haze of Stiles’ thoughts, “You haven’t said anything in five minutes.”

“What?” Stiles blinked, “I…huh?”

“You’ve been spaced out for the last few minutes,” Derek said, “I was starting to get worried that I was wrong about you not having a concussion.”

“Sorry,” Stiles coughed, “I just…I get lost in my head sometimes. It’s another one of my undesirable traits.”

Derek frowned, “It’s fine. I used to do the same thing, Laura always called me a space cadet.”

Stiles laughed, “My mom used to call me that all the time.”

Derek was silent for a moment before speaking, “Used to?”

Stiles’ stomach dropped. He wasn’t used to being around people who didn’t know about his mother. It had been a whole thing, wife of local Sheriff candidate dying just a few weeks before he was elected.

“She uh…” Stiles trailed off, “she died. Six years ago, two months before I turned 11.”

Derek flinched away like he’d been burned.

Well, maybe that wasn’t the best comparison for a guy whose family died in a fire.

“Fuck,” Derek rasped, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I never would have said anything…I know…”

Stiles held up a placating hand, “It’s fine, I know you didn’t know. You look mortified, dude.”

Derek let out a tense breath, “I’m used…I’m used to people bringing up my family out of the blue. I know how terrible it feels, I didn’t mean to do that to you.”

“It’s fine,” Stiles shook his head, “Well, no. It’s fine that you asked about her. It’s…it’s not fine that she’s dead and that I turn 17 in two weeks and she won’t be around to see it.”

Stiles clenched his fist. This was not how he saw this whole conversation with Derek going. Stiles had hoped for, at best, a little bit of harmless and one-sided flirting and not dead parents and overwhelming existential dread.

Maybe this was all part of his head injury. Maybe the lacrosse ball put him in a coma and he’s really living his life and having weirdly deep conversations with a man he doesn’t even know inside of a snow globe while Scott and his father sit as his bedside every day and cry over his lifeless body.

Stiles looked up to find Derek looking at him intently and he sighed, “I did it again, didn’t I?”

Derek laughed, his lips turning up in a small smile, “Yeah. Where did you go?”

Stiles scoffed, “Trying to figure out if I’m really living in a snow globe or not,” Stiles held his arm out to Derek, “Pinch me.”

Stiles was about to pull his arm away, because it was a terrible attempt at a joke, but just before he pulled his arm back he felt a small, sharp pain in his forearm.

Stiles yelped, pulling his arm back to his chest and cradling it defensively, “Dude! What the fuck!”

Derek laughed, grinning, “You asked me to!”

Stiles sputtered, “I didn’t think you would do it!”

Derek rolled his eyes, “So, are you living in a snow globe?”

Stiles released his arm and looked down at the small red mark on it, smiling, “I don’t think so. I’d like to think I wouldn’t feel this much pain in the perfect world I’d created in my comatose head.”

“Maybe snow globe you is just really dramatic?” Derek offered

Stiles glared, “Well, snow globe Derek is a fucking _asshole_.”

Derek laughed, a loud, open sound that Stiles didn’t know Derek was capable of making, “How would that be any different than the real me?”

Stiles thought about it for a second, “Yeah, you’re right. Snow globe Derek would be a fucking saint compared to you. It’s official, I’m still among the living.”

Derek smiled, softer, “I’m glad.”

Stiles, under the scrutinizing glow of Derek’s tiny smile, did what he did best. He torpedoed the conversation.

“So,” Stiles said, “my dad is working late tonight. Do you…maybe…you and Laura want to hang out or something?”

Stiles held his breath for what seemed like an eternity and it took every ounce of self-control he had in him to not squeeze his eyes shut in fear while he waited for an answer. Derek was suspiciously quiet, looking off into the distance before blinking and turning to look back at Stiles.

“No,” Derek said simply.

Stiles’ stomach flipped. He was such an idiot. What in the hell was he even thinking?

“Right,” Stiles said quickly, “it was a dumb idea. Why would you even want to hang out with me or anything. Duh, Stiles!”

Stiles tried to laugh, to play it off as a joke, but he knew he failed terribly by the way his voice cracked. His entire body sparked with embarrassment.

“It’s not…” Derek trailed off, “I didn’t me it like that. I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget to be hum- “

Derek cut himself off immediately and Stiles raised a single eyebrow at him out of curiosity.

“Forget to be what?”

Derek looked away, “I forget to act like a normal person. I’m not good at it sometimes. I didn’t mean to be dismissive, Laura and I have plans tonight already. I’m sorry.”

“Oh,” Stiles said as he rubbed he back of his head, it made him feel marginally better but he couldn’t be entirely sure that Derek wasn’t just lying to spare Stiles’ feelings, “Another night then? You and Laura can’t leave town before I show you where to get the best curly fries.”

“Maybe,” Derek said, abruptly standing from the bench, “We’re going to be busy for the next few days before we leave but...maybe. If we have time. I should go. Your practice just ended and the team is on its way back.”

“Wait, what?” Stiles asked, turning around to look back towards the field, he couldn’t even see the team over the hill, let alone hear them so how did Derek know?

Stiles turned back around to ask Derek that exact question. Except Derek wasn’t there. Derek wasn’t anywhere in sight.

 

X

 

Laura spent what felt like an hour roaming the halls of Beacon Hills High. She felt calm and at peace as she walked the same hallways that she did as a teenager, stuck her head in the same classes she’d had when she went there, and even sat in a few desks that she’s sure was the exact same ones she’d sat in years ago.

It reminded her of a time when she didn’t have to bare the weight of the world, of when she was just a (mostly) normal teenage girl with (mostly) normal teenage girl problems.

She found a few pictures from her various homecoming dances and her senior prom plastered onto a large collage in one of the common areas and pried off a single picture of her standing next to her boyfriend from Senior year with a dainty tiara on her head and a cheap plastic scepter in her hand. She folded the picture in half and stuffed it into the breast pocket of her jacket.

She even found a few more pictures of Derek. Derek with his bunny teeth and oversized ears. Derek smiling like she hadn’t seen him smile in years. Laura would be lying if she said she didn’t feel a bone deep ache when she thought of the boy her brother used to be.

Laura could probably count on both hands the number of times she’d heard Derek laugh, _really_ laugh, over the past six years.

Laura swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath to fight back the guilt she felt for dragging Derek back to this stupid town. He’d been doing better over the last year, finally starting to come out of his shell and interact with the world a little more.

But since being back in Beacon Hills she’d seen him regress, starting to shut down and close out the world out again. She felt like a terrible sister and a terrible Alpha. She let her emotions get the better of her and she could have lost everything if things had gone a different way that first night she’d gotten back to town.

If she hadn’t been arrested she probably would have let her curiosity get the better of her and gone out to the preserve alone. Who knows what would have happened then? She could have died and left Derek truly alone in the world.

It was times like this that Laura desperately wished she could talk to her mother for advice. Sometimes Laura felt impossibly lost. She’d jumped so quickly to the idea of killing Peter if he was out of control before she even thought of helping him. It was worrying and she knew her mother would have had something to say about it if she were around.

Laura liked to think of herself as a pragmatist, it was almost a necessity after the last six years and it was nothing like how her mother ran her pack

Laura let her head fall against the stone wall as she tried to sift through her jumbled thoughts. She stood there for a moment, basking in the quiet, before she heard a pair of footsteps in the hallway. They were soft, almost certainly belonging to a teenager.

Laura peered around the corner and caught sight of a girl wearing an oversized grey hoodie. Her posture was terrible, she was slumped over and cradling her backpack in her hand in what looked like an attempt to make herself as unnoticeable as possible. She was wearing a pair of black glasses and thick blonde curls spilled out from her hoodie in a messy fashion.

Just as Laura was about to turn the corner and leave the girl to herself the air spiked with something Laura had never quite smelled before. It was odd…it felt like sickness but it made her uncomfortable, almost as if the scent was trying to tell her something.

Laura heard the girl drop her bag, the sound echoed through the halls and Laura spun on her heel. She finally realized what she was smelling, it _was_ a warning and it was coming from the girl. Laura’s eyes fell on the girl just in time to see the girl’s eyes roll into the back of her head and her entire body go slack.

Laura quickly realized that the girl was having a seizure. Laura looked around the hallway, she had to make a decision. It would take more than human speed to make it to the girl before her head hit the ground.

Laura darted forward, the lines of lockers blurring into nothingness as she made it down the hallway in a blink of an eye. It was almost too late. Laura caught the girl right before her head hit the hard ground. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the girl, if she should restrain her or do something to make sure she didn’t bite her tongue off.

She settled on wrapping her hands loosely around the girl’s midsection and holding her as the attack continued. The girl shook violently for a few more seconds before it slowly petered off and her body went slack. Laura listened to her heartbeat just to make sure she didn’t need to call an ambulance sooner.

The girl began to stir and Laura loosened her grip. She kept an ear out for anything worrying and let the girl push herself up against the lockers they were near and settled back across from her.

Laura wondered if this is what service dogs felt like.

“What?” The girl mumbled, the hood of her sweater falling down and spilling out tousled blonde curls, “Oh, no.”

“Hey,” Laura said softly, “you’re OK.”

“Oh my god,” the girl looked up at Laura and flushed red, “This is so embarrassing. Fuck, I was doing so well.”

Laura shook her head, “Don’t be embarrassed. I’m glad I was here, you’d be laying here with your head cracked open if I hadn’t caught you before you fell.”

Her eyes went wide, “You caught me?”

Laura laughed, “Yeah, I was lucky enough to be right down the hall when I realized what was happening.”

“Epilepsy,” the girl sighed, “I’m Erica, by the way.”

Laura smiled and held out her hand, “Hello, Erica. I’m Laura.”

“Hale,” Erica laughed, “I know.”

Laura sighed as she stood, “I see my reputation proceeds me.”

Erica blinked, “No! Oh god, I didn’t mean it like that! We’ve met before, I mean. I already knew who you were.”

Laura cocked her head to the side. She had zero recollection of ever meeting Erica before. She didn’t recognize her face or her scent in the slightest.

“Are you sure?” Laura asked, “I’m normally really good with faces?”

“It was years ago,” Erica lowered her eyes to the ground, “I was just a kid.”

“I must have made quite the impression,” Laura laughed, she thought back to what she would have been like around the time of Erica’s childhood and grimaced, she was a bit of a dick, “I hope it was a good one?”

“A great one,” Erica laughed, “I was on the playground and some girl was making fun of me, calling me tremors and a whole bunch of other things. Kids are terrible, ya know?”

Laura nodded, most kids she’d met were huge assholes.

“Anyway,” Erica shrugged, “she ended up making me cry and stood over me, kicking sand on me. I was trying to find some way to get away from her but she had me boxed in against the swing set. I’d all but decided to just give in and suffer until I heard the girl scream.”

“Oh,” Laura said, her eyes going wide with recollection.

“I opened my eyes and saw you,” Erica laughed, “you’d literally picked the girl up by her shirt and were holding her in the air with one hand. You made her apologize to me, pick up all my toys, and promise to never speak to me again.”

“And I threatened to come back and hang her from the monkey bars by her toes if I ever found out she was making fun of you again.” Laura finished.

Erica’s smile lit up the entire hallway, “You remember?”

Laura let out a small laugh, “Oh, I remember. I don’t think I’ll ever forget how mad my mom was when she found out. The girl’s parents went to the police and everything. I was grounded for like four months and had to do all my little brother and sisters chores for the whole time.”

Erica’s moth fell open and Laura cut her off before her likely apology.

“Don’t even,” Laura waved her hand, “it was totally worth it to see the look on that girl’s face.”

“Yeah,” Erica smiled shyly, “she never did mess with me again.”

Laura’s phone buzzed in her pocket, she quickly pulled it out and found a text from Derek telling her that he was outside by the car and ready to go. Laura shoved her phone back in her pocket and looked up at Erica.

“I need to run but are you going to be Ok?” Laura asked, “Is there someone I can call?”

Erica shook her head, “I think the nurse is still here, she knows about my condition and she can call my parents and let them know.”

Laura nodded and smiled, “Take care of yourself.”

Erica smiled back, “Thanks. You too.”

 

X

 

Derek knew he was being stupid. He really did. But he couldn’t help himself

He knew he never should have spoken to Stiles, that he should have just watched from a distance to make sure Stiles didn’t hurt himself anymore on the way to the locker room and left it at that. But he couldn’t help himself, not when he had a literal wolf inside his body that was clawing at his ribcage to be near Stiles, to touch him and feel for himself that he was OK.

It was stupid, ill advised, and he did it anyway.

What was worse is that it was dangerous. Dangerous because Stiles was easy to talk to. He understood Derek in a way that Derek never could have anticipated. Derek had opened up more in a short conversation with Stiles than he did with most people over the last six years, Laura included.

Even more confusing was that Derek wasn’t left with an empty, hollow feeling after talking about his family. Usually after talking to Laura about their parents, or sister, or cousins, Derek was left feeling like he’d just reached inside of himself and torn himself to shreds. But after talking about them with Stiles he felt…not happy but not sad.

It was terrible, confusing, and it couldn’t happen anymore. Stiles was still a teenager, Stiles was a human, and worst of all, Stiles was in Beacon Hills and wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon.

It couldn’t happen, even if Stiles made Derek smile and laugh like he hadn’t since Paige.

 

X

 

Stiles decided, after a few hours of sitting on his bed playing Call of Duty, that he was bored. He’d taken it easy ever since getting home from Scott’s house and was following Melissa’s strict instructions to not do anything that could further damage his head but he was starting to feel that terrible thrum of pent up energy buzzing under his skin.

It was a Friday night, his dad was working late, and he had nothing to do. He fished his phone out from where it had fallen under his bed an hour previously and texted the only person he knew that would probably reply, ignoring the new contact in his phone under the name of Laura Hale.

**To Scott: I’m bored**

Stiles set his phone down and looked out his bedroom window and into the woods, getting lost in the darkness before his phone buzzed and drew his attention again.

**From Scott: Me too. Wanna come over?**

Stiles looked down at his phone, back at the woods, and then back to his phone. He had an idea.

**To Scott: Better idea.**

**To Scott: Me. You. A few of dad’s beers. The preserve. Smores.**

Stiles grinned, pulled on a hoodie, and galloped down the stairs to get the necessary supplies for a night of fun.

**From Scott: I don’t know dude. What about the animal attacks?**

Stiles rolled his eyes before replying.

**To Scott: It’s not like we’re going to go miles into the woods. Man up, Scotty boy!**

Stiles finished packing a small bag when his phone buzzed again.

**From Scott: Fine but if I die then I’m going to haunt you forever.**

**To Scott: Awesome.**

Stiles pumped a fist in the air in victory before grabbing his keys off the counter and darting out the door towards the Jeep.

First stop, Scott.

Second stop, the Preserve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote legit like four versions of the ending of Stiles and Derek's conversations, all with varying levels of angst (including one where Stiles jokingly said Derek should be on To Catch A Predator and Derek freaked the fuck out with guilt) before I settled on more of a happyishy ending to their first major conversation. 
> 
> Also, Stiles' weird snow globe references are references to the 80s show St. Eleswhere where it's revealed in the finale that the entire world of the show takes place inside of a snow globe that belongs to an autistic child because why the hell not. 
> 
> Also also, hey Erica.


	5. Once Bitten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is long and stuff happens 
> 
> brief warning for something that could possibly be seen as self harm, more details in the end notes. If this bothers you then skip the first few paragraphs in the third section of the chapter.

 

 

 

 

Chapter Five

Once Bitten

 

“Peter is still in his room,” Laura said as she scanned the tree line, “He smells normal, or as normal as he can smell.”

Derek nodded. He was glad Peter seemed to be in control tonight, he wasn’t in the mood for a fight and he couldn’t stomach the idea of possibly having to go to extreme measures to stop his uncle. He hadn’t voiced his concerns to Laura because he knew she was dealing with enough already, but the thought that Laura or he might have to kill Peter made Derek’s stomach churn with anger and fear.

“It should be dark enough for us to do our thing now,” Laura said as she stepped around a large tree, shrugging her jacket off and hanging it on a low branch.

Derek turned his back as Laura began to undress. Modesty wasn’t something that was easy to come by in a pack of born wolves, especially one as large as the Hale pack, but it had just been him and Laura alone for so long that they’d shed the habits of their old life and had learned to give each other some privacy.

Laura actually knocked whenever she went in his room now, it was something 15-year-old Derek would have loved but 21-year-old Derek occasionally missed the invasions of privacy.

Derek let himself fall into his Beta shift and the darkened forest immediately lit up in front of him. The scents of the night air jumped out at him almost immediately and he had to take a moment to concentrate on what he was looking for. He turned his head up towards the hospital and caught the scent of Peter almost immediately. He turned his head towards the forest and tried to pick up any kind of trail to indicate Peter, or Peter’s wolf, had been down here but he came up empty.

Soft, padding footsteps came from behind Derek. Derek turned and smiled, shifting back to human as he took in the sight of his sister’s full shift.

Laura stood tall, larger than any normal wolf possibly could be, and her inky black fur melted into the darkness around her. Laura was almost impossible to see, even with Derek’s slightly enhanced human eyesight Laura was just a silhouette of darkness with two bold, red eyes blazing though the night. 

Laura took a step forward, bumping her head against Derek’s stomach, and Derek shifted back to Beta so he could see Laura fully.

“You look just like mom,” Derek said softly, if he closed his eyes he could still picture his mother’s full shift. She was still larger than Laura, almost as tall as Derek himself, but they looked remarkably similar aside from the height difference.

Laura whined softly, circling around Derek and brushing her tail against the small of his back. Derek reached down and delicately ran a clawed hand down Laura’s back, combing through the thick fur and then resettling his hand on the back of her neck, making sure to get the scent of Laura’s full shift.

“You ready?” Derek asked.

Laura looked up at Derek and nodded before tipping her head up towards the sky and breathing in deeply. Derek waited, Laura’s sense of smell was far beyond his (which was admittedly impressive for a Beta) in her full shift and Derek knew that if there was something out there in the preserve that his sister would catch it eventually.

Laura’s head snaps forward, her ears falling almost flat, and she let out a low growl. It’s a terrifying sound, one that is dangerous and promises deadly intent, and Derek had never heard her make it before. Laura’s entire body was tense, her tail bone straight and unmoving.

Slowly, Laura lowered her nose to the ground and inhaled deeply before letting out a bark to draw Derek’s attention. She was signaling him, letting him know that she’s about to take off and that he better keep up. Derek nodded and croushed down, ready to sprint after Laura.

Laura took off like an arrow shooting straight through the night, she moves so fucking fast that Derek often forgot the kind of bonuses that come with the Alpha power. Laura was faster and stronger than he could ever hope to be and even moving at his full speed he was still a good thirty of forty feet behind Laura as she weaved through trees and jumped over boulders in the darkened woods.

Laura came to a stop in the middle of a large clearing, her entire body tense once again. Derek slowed to a jog as he came into the clearing and stopped next to Laura, resting his hand at the nape of her neck once again.

“What is it?” Derek asked, breathing in deeply to try and catch the scent Laura had.

Something was in the air, it was faint but Derek could smell it. It was strange and uncomfortable, almost exactly the way that Laura had described it. It felt wrong.

Laura barked again, drawing Derek’s attention. She softly closed her jaws around his wrist and pulled him forward and back into the woods. She was leading him somewhere precise.

“Show me where,” Derek nodded as Laura let go of his wrist. She kept the pace slow, almost as if she was still searching for something even though she clearly had a destination in mind.

Derek quickly realized that they were on the boarder of Beacon Hills proper, a mile or so off from the main road that led into town. The same road that Laura had driven in on and caught the scent of their mysterious wolf. Laura’s head snapped to the left and she gave Derek one quick look before breaking out into a run again.

Derek followed after her moving as fast as he could. The scent got stronger the further they went in the direction that Laura was running and it only took a few minutes for the smell to become almost overwhelming.

Derek had never smelled anything like it. It was imposing and the fact that there was just the smallest note of the Hale pack buried beneath the scent of death and darkness made it worse. It was like he could smell the burning bodies of his family again, only this time it was magnified tenfold.

Laura was standing over the body of a dead deer when Derek found her. She stepped to the side when she heard Derek approaching and Derek flinched back when he saw the decomposed animal laying at the base of a tree.

The deer had to have been dead for at least a few days, it was that far decomposed. Derek quickly realized that the entire side of the deer had been skinned and it dawned on him.

“This is the deer that you hit,” Derek said slowly as he looked down at Laura.

Laura nodded and flicked her nose towards the dead animal, she was telling Derek to get closer and smell it.

Derek grimaced, the smell of dead things had always gotten to him, even as a child. It hadn’t gotten any better after he smelled his entire family as they died.

Derek lowered his head to the deer, his nose closest to the area where they skin had started to be removed, and inhaled deeply. He coughed, falling backwards onto the ground as the smell overwhelmed him. His head began to swim as the scent assaulted him through almost all of his senses. Fuck, it was like he could even taste it.

“How are you still upright,” Derek asked between breaths, “this is terrible, Laura.”

Laura huffed, rolling her eyes. And when did she learn to do that?

Derek read between the lines, _‘duh’_

Laura barked again and nudged Derek’s knee with her head before darting off to the east, signaling Derek to follow her. Derek took a deep breath and nodded when he found what Laura had sensed as well. Whatever killed the deer the night Laura had gotten to town left a trail. A trail that was strong enough to follow.

Derek ran after Laura, letting all his senses guide him along the path left by Laura’s attacker. The scent was still so strong even two days later and that fact worried Derek. He worried it was some kind of trap, worried that he and Laura were playing right into Peter, or someone else’s, hands.

Derek shook of the worry, there wasn’t much he could do now. He had to trust Laura, his Alpha, his sister. They ran for around 20 minutes and Derek began to fell an odd sense of dread settle onto his shoulders like an enormous weight.

Laura skidded to a stop ahead of him, crouched low to the ground and growling ferociously. Derek slowed, claws extended, and claimed his spot next to Laura. He dropped down into a fighting stance and looked at the view in front of his face.

The reason for Derek’s dread quickly became apparent.

The trail had led them from the deer’s corpse to the burned out remains of the Hale house.

 

X

 

Stiles was point five seconds away from slapping Scott’s inhaler out of his hand. He’d never actually do it, because Scott could die, but Scott kept nervously opening and closing the mouth guard and the sound was grating on Stiles’ ears.

“Scott,” Stiles pleaded, “for the love of god would you _please_ stop?”

Scott sighed, “Sorry, I’m just nervous!”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Scott, it’s just the preserve. We’re not going to run into any man-eating mountain lions or anything.”

“It’s not just that!” Scott shook his head, “Won’t your dad realize there are beers missing from the fridge?”

Stiles bust out laughing, “ _That_ is what you’re worried about?”

“Why shouldn’t I be?” Scott protested, “You know your dad wouldn’t hesitate to arrest either of us just to make a point! My mom’s going to kill me!”

Stiles rolled his eyes again, “He’s been working non-stop lately, he’ll think he just drank them without remembering when he was half asleep.”

Scott groaned and Stiles cuffed him on the back of the head. Scott was being a baby, it was only four beers.

“’You need to grow up, Scotty.” Stiles laughed, “You think Allison doesn’t go out to Lydia’s parties and engage in all sorts of underage drinking?”

“No!” Scott yelped, “Allison is too smart for that!”

“How would you know? You’ve both said like ten words to each other combined.”

Scott sighed, “I just know! The same way that you know Lydia is the love of your life.”

Stiles shrugged, “We’ve been over this, I’m over Lydia.”

“Sure,” Scott rolled his eyes, “whatever you say.”

It was true. Stiles had firmly been aboard the friendship train with Lydia after last semester when she told him all he’d needed was a fedora to complete his Nice Guy look. Some things you just can’t come back from and Stiles still felt the sting of her words whenever he thinks about it.

Because really, who wants to be the fedora wearing Nice Guy?

Stiles was content with whatever weird friendship he had with Lydia wherein they mock everyone in the classes they share together because Lydia is a secret fucking genius and will probably take over the world someday and last week she deemed Stiles’ brains ‘adequate if not a little lacking’ which is probably the best compliment anyone could get from Lydia Martin.

So, no, Stiles didn’t want Lydia like that anymore contrary to what Scott or Jackson thought. It may or may not be because Stiles currently had his eyes on a tall, broad, scruffy, possible stalker whose shy smile he couldn’t get out of his head.

“Stiles,” Scott snapped his fingers from the passenger’s seat, “dude, you’re about to miss the turn off for the preserve.”

Stiles shook his head and slammed on the brakes, sending Scott and the bag in the back seat tumbling forward, and stopped just in time to not miss the small gate that led to one of the lesser patrolled entrances to the preserve. Stiles had long since memorized the patrol routes and schedules of Beacon Hills’ Finest and he knew exactly where to park his Jeep so it would go unseen by a half-asleep deputy.

Stiles circled the Jeep deeper into the woods and pulled it to a stop underneath a dense canopy of trees. He opened the door, balanced himself on the running board, and pulled down a thick branch that drooped just enough to hide most of the Jeep from prying eyes.

Scott shook his head as he rounded the back of the Jeep, “It should worry me that you know exactly how to do that, dude.”

Stiles grinned, “It’s just one of my many talents.”

He reached into the back of the Jeep and retrieved the bag that contained the beers and ingredients for smores and spun back to face Scott, “Inhaler check.”

Scott sighed, pulling the inhaler out of his pocket and proving to Stiles that it worked, “Satisfied, mom?”

“Very,” Stiles grinned, “it’s for your own good, dude. My frail limbs cannot carry you out of the woods if you go all asthmatic on me.”

Scott laughed and shoved Stiles in the shoulder, “I know, thanks dude.”

Stiles smiled and rubbed the back of his head and Scott’s smile didn’t falter.

“This is nice,” Scott said, moving to match Stiles’ steps, “I feel like we haven’t gotten bro time in a while, ya’know?” 

Stiles shrugged, ignoring the little bit of hurt he felt about that very fact, “It’s all good. As much as I tease you, I know you’ve been making some headway with Allison so if Scott and Stiles time has to suffer for you to get a girlfriend then I humbly sacrifice myself.”

Scott laughed, “Dude, you know I’d never sacrifice your friendship for a girl. We’re brothers, that dark magic blood ritual we did in the first grade made sure of it.”

Stiles laughed and knocked his shoulder into Scott’s, “Yeah, I don’t think we want to go against the forces of darkness who bonded us together.”

They were silent for a few minutes as they walked, eventually coming to a small clearing with enough of an open area to build a small campfire. It had been a relatively dry month and Stiles didn’t have any trouble finding enough dry wood for a small fire. He watched it carefully as it grew, just to make sure he didn’t start a forest fire.

He belatedly thought of the Hale house and figured that the Preserve had seen enough fire to last a lifetime.

Stiles positioned his and Scott’s marshmallows over the fire and passed the first of Scott’s beers to him. He and Scott popped the tabs open at the same time and both took a sip. Stiles laughed when Scott stuck his tongue out and gagged.

“This stuff is terrible,” Scott said before taking another sip and gagging.

Stiles rolled his eyes and took another sip of his own beer. They were both two drinks in, lightly buzzed since neither of them drank that often, when Scott took advantage of the situation.

“So,” Scott said, drawing out the o, “if you’re over Lydia who is the new object of your desire.”

Stiles’ stomach flipped, “No one!”

“Right,” Scott hummed, “you’re telling me that you gave up on Lydia Martin, woman of your dreams, without any other prospects?”

“There are no prospects!” Stiles jabbed Scott with a twig, “There is no one that replaced Lydia.”

Scott give Stiles a wicked side eye.

Stiles took another sip of his beer. He met Derek after getting over Lydia, he totally didn’t count as a replacement crush.

“Derek?” Scott’s voice echoed, “Who’s Derek?”

Stiles felt his world tilt sideways and he scrambled to cover his traitorous and disloyal mouth.

“Dude, Stiles,” Scott said softly, “Who’s Derek?”

“No one!” Stiles denied, his voice high bitched and muffled behind his hands, “No one! You didn’t hear anything! That was the PBR talking and not Stiles!”

Scott shuffled closer, “Stiles, man, if there’s…something you want to tell me then I’m all ears. You don’t have to…but I said earlier that you’re my brother and I mean it.”

Stiles swallowed the lump in his throat before slowly lowering his hands to his sides, “I’mbisexualandtheremightbeaguynamedDerekwhoImettheotherdayandhavea giantcrushon.”

Scott cackled, “Stiles, you’re going to have to slow down if you want me to understand.”

Stiles drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, he hadn’t exactly planned on coming out to his best friend tonight but it was too far gone at this point, “I said, I am bisexual and there is possibly a guy named Derek who I’ve met a few times and I might have a crush on him.”

Scott grinned, big, blinding, and lopsided, “Stiles, dude! That’s awesome!”

“Awesome?” Stiles sputtered.

Scott laughed and wrapped his arm around Stiles’ shoulder, pulling him in close for a hug, “Yes, awesome! I’m glad you told me.”

“You’re fine with it?” Stiles closed his eyes, it wasn’t that he expected Scott to say he hated him and that he was an abomination or anything but…

“Of course, I’m fine with it, dumb ass!” Scott rolled his eyes, “Have I ever said anything that would make you think I wouldn’t be?”

“No,” Stiles shook his head, “I don’t know, it’s just scary. But hey, I just came out to you!”

Stiles laughed, maybe a bit manically, and Scott patted him on the back.

“So, tell me about Derek.”

 

X

 

“Someone’s been here,” Derek said as he followed Laura into the remains of the Hale house, it was dark and Derek couldn’t help but feel like something was off when he stepped inside.

Laura growled, low and threatening, and began to nose around the entryway of the house. Derek clenched his fists, his claws digging into his palms, and used the pain as a distraction from the years of memories that were threatening to overwhelm him.

It was best to approach this cold and calculated, like they were just simply tracking something instead of digging though their own personal graveyard.

Derek was startled by Laura appearing at his side and gently licking his clenched fist, wiping the blood away with her tongue. She gently bit down onto his wrist to get him to release his fists and remove his claws from his palm. Laura licked his wounds clean and then snapped at him with her impressive jaws, a clear warning that she didn’t want Derek to hurt himself like that.

Derek nodded, turning away from Laura and exploring the lower level of the house. It was very easy to tell that someone had been inside recently from the footprints in the dust and the small collection of trash in the various corners of the rooms. Most likely teenagers who were dared to go into the creepy old house, or who used it as a hideaway to get up to god knows what. Derek couldn’t think about it.

Derek stopped, stood at the base of the stairs near the kitchen, and inhaled deeply. It was then he realized why he’d felt something was missing when he entered the house.

“I can’t smell anything,” Derek said, “Laura?”

Laura came around the corner and shook her head, her eyes glowing a deep red in the darkness. She moved in close to Derek and pressed against his side to keep them united. Derek settled his hand on Laura’s neck to calm her, they were without one of their strongest enhanced senses and it put them both off balance.

Derek closed his eyes and rested his hand on the wall nearest to him and concentrated, breathing slowly, he opened his eyes after a few seconds and looked down at Laura.

“Magic,” Derek said, “someone did something to the house, it’s masking all the scents inside. Someone was using this as a hiding place.”

Laura growled and moved forward slowly, leading Derek to the end of the hall. Derek froze when he saw what was in front of him. Stretched out along the wall between his father’s old office and the family room was a giant rune carved into the wall itself.

Derek wasn’t that familiar with magic but he didn’t have to be a witch to know that what he was seeing was some powerful stuff.

“Jesus,” Derek said as his hand hovered over the rune, he could feel the magic emanating from it, “Peter was always the most familiar with magic out of the entire family.”

Laura glared at the wall and Derek ran another hand down her back to sooth her.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Derek wondered out loud, “who would Peter need to do this?”

Derek heard more than saw Laura shift back next to him.

“He knew I was coming back,” Laura’s voice was raspy, “maybe he intended to use this as some kind of trap for me?”

“How would Peter have been able to make this rune though?”

Laura shook her head, “You said it yourself, Peter was always the most familiar with magic out of everyone.”

“Still,” Derek trailed off.

“I know,” Laura nodded, “something feels off, even for someone as crafty as Peter.”

Derek swallowed, “I need to go outside, this is too much.”

Between the house and his senses being deprived Derek was dangerously close to being overwhelmed with the situation.

Laura rested her head on his shoulder, “Go outside for a minute, pup. I’m going to look around upstairs for a few minutes.”

Derek exhaled, “Call me if you find anything.”

Derek quickly made his way outside and to the tree line that was just opposite of the Hale house. He leaned against one of the larger trees and ran a hand through his hair and exhaled a shaky breath. He breathed in deeply and let the smells of the preserve wash over him, the fresh air doing more to relax him that he’d even imagined.

Derek took another deep breath and he froze, shook his head, and took a few steps deeper into the woods.

He smelled Stiles.

It wasn’t possible, there was no reason he should be able to smell Stiles out here. Not unless…

“That idiot,” Derek growled, moving through the trees faster and faster as Stiles’ scent got closer and closer.

Derek paused when he heard the sounds of a small crackling fire and two voices.

“Come on Stiles, just tell me!” the first voice said.

“No,” Stiles’ voice was a higher pitch than Derek had ever heard, “there’s nothing to tell! He’s just…drop it”

“Stiles, dude! I’m your best friend, I want to know these things!”

“There’s nothing to know, Scott. It’s not like I have a chance or anything, they’ll be gone soon and I highly doubt they’ll ever come back. It’s better for me to just get over it.”

Derek froze. Was Stiles talking about him? Laura?

Derek suddenly felt invasive, he wanted to know more of what Stiles was going to say but he also felt like an insane stalker and there was no good that could come of Stiles finding him listening to his conversation with a friend in the woods.

Derek took a step backwards, intending to make his way back to the house to find Laura, and focused on the sounds deeper into the preserve as he walked.

He was a few seconds away from the house when he heard it. The sounds of something running through the woods, large, fast, and angry. Derek shifted, concentrating on the sound that seemed to be getting closer by the second. Whatever it was, it was larger than anything in the preserve should be.

It could only be one thing.

Derek ran as fast as he could, he couldn’t howl for Laura because Stiles was nearby and Derek knew enough by now to know that if Stiles heard a wolf howling then there was a 90% chance that he’d run towards it instead of away from it.

The house came into view just as Derek heard a vicious snarl from his right side and felt something overwhelmingly large collide into him. Derek let out a sharp yell as he fell to the ground, the crushing weight of the creature bearing down on him, and scrambled to swipe out with his claws.

Derek just managed to clip the creature with his claws before leveraging his legs out from under himself and kicking the thing off of him with as much strength as he could muster. Derek rolled backwards, bracing one arm against a nearby tree, and winced as he popped his dislocated shoulder back in place.

“Laura!” Derek called out, not loud enough for Stiles to hear but loud enough for Laura.

Derek could hear the creature stalking the tree line around him, moving in a jagged circle almost as it was toying with him. He could smell the same scent that they’d tracked earlier, the scent of pack and darkness, and he shuddered.

This was what they were looking for.

Laura came flying around the corner, shifted fully again, and let out a sharp snarl towards the tree line. Derek listened as the creature stopped moving and the preserve fell silent. He could still smell it, track it to exactly where it was standing still and just watching them, but neither he nor Laura made the first move.

The creature knew what it was doing, it was watching, surveying, and looking for any weakness. Derek crouched low, ready to attack, and nodded at Laura when she looked at him.

Slow, heavy footsteps came from the edge of the forest that was directly in front of them. The creature was moving in, slowly and deliberately, ready to challenge them. Derek flexed his hands and extended his claws fully, ready for anything.

The moon was bright, giving off enough light to show every inch of the beast as it stepped into the clearing. It was huge, taller than Derek, larger and more muscular than Laura in her wolf form, and walking on its hind legs. It was covered in thick, matted brown fur, and its snout was elongated and almost larger than its head. It flashed its teeth, bright white and razor sharp, and drug its foreclaws across the ground slowly.

 Its eyes were black. Not red. Not gold. Not blue. Just black. A dark, deep void of nothingness.

It was a wolf like Derek had never seen. It felt utterly and terribly wrong and it sickened Derek that whatever it was smelled like pack underneath everything.

“Peter?” Derek gaped, his reply cut off by the beast charging directly towards him.

Derek underestimated its speed and reach and the wolfs claws slashed across his chest before he even had a chance to react. Laura snarled next to him, launching herself through the air and biting down on the wolfs arm, jerking her head furiously to tear at skin and muscle.

The wolf roared, lifting its arm with Laura still attached and slamming her against a nearby tree. Laura yelped, letting go of the wolfs arm, and rolled across the ground and collided with the side of the house.

The wolf turned towards Derek again, roaring as it charged directly towards him. Derek was ready this time though, weaving out of the way of the wolfs claws at the last possible second and spinning to get himself behind the wolf as it ran by. Derek jumped through the air, landing on the wolfs back, and dug his claws in between the wolfs shoulder blades.

The wolf roared again, jumping into the air and falling on its back in an effort to deliberately crush Derek. Derek gasped for air as the wolfs weight came down on him with his claws still embedded in its back, his ripped his claws out, feeing chunks of skin and bone come with them.

The wolf snarled, flipping itself over and pinning Derek to the ground, shoving both of its claws in his shoulders to hold him down. It curled its lips back, bearing its large teeth, and went for his neck.

Laura howled from behind Derek, tackling into the wolf and sending it tumbling. Derek cried out as the claws were ripped from his skin and scrambled to his feet to help Laura.

Laura was on her hind legs with her jaw locked into the wolfs broad shoulder, her front paws digging into the beast’s chest as she worked it back towards a tree and pinned it there. Derek ran forward, limping, and was able to catch Laura just in time as the wolf pushed back, headbutting her and sending her tumbling across the ground.

“Laura,” Derek said between ragged breaths, wincing in pain, “it’s strong.”

Laura growled but nodded her head in agreement.

“Stiles is nearby,” Derek rasped, “we need to lead Peter away from him.”

Laura red eyes grew wide and she let out an exasperated huff before nodding.

The wolf slowly recovered as Derek watched it from across the clearing, he crouched and roared, challenging it as it got to its feet. Laura did the same, directing a full Alpha roar at the creature.

The sound echoed through the forest and Derek knew there was no way that Stiles didn’t hear it. All he could do was hope that he wasn’t stupid enough to want to investigate something so terrifying.

 

X

 

“Dude, did you hear that?”

Stiles shook his head, “No, Scott. I did not hear the terrifying _roar_ that just shook the trees around us.”

“OK good,” Scott’s eyes were wide, “I’m just going crazy then.”

“What the hell was that?” Stiles asked, his eyes scanning the trees around them.

“I don’t know but I think it’s our cue to leave.” Scott said as he smothered the fire and began collecting their beer cans.

“No way, dude!” Stiles eyes were wide with excitement, “I need to know what that was.”

Scott furiously shook his head, “No. Nope. Not happening. There’s no way we’re going any deeper into the woods to find a mountain lion.”

Stiles scoffed, he’d watched enough Discovery Channel to know that was no mountain lion.

Scott tugged at Stiles’ arm, “Come on, I’m serious. Let’s go.”

Stiles stood still as he listened for any more signs of what made the sound. He could hear Scott anxiously moving around him but he couldn’t help but be fascinated by whatever the hell it was that he’d just heard. Sure, he was terrified but he was also curious.

“Stiles!” Scott hissed.

Stiles held up his hand, “Quiet, Scott. Listen.”

Scott grew quiet and Stiles leaned in closer to the forest. He swore he could hear footsteps, fast and frantic like someone was running. Whatever he was hearing was totally human, there was no way a mountain lion could move like that.

Stiles felt Scott’s hand circle around his wrist and begin to pull him away, “Stiles, we’re leaving. _Now_.”

Stiles sighed and turned back to look at Scott who actually looked terrified, his resolve shattered, “Alright, alright. Let’s go, the Jeep isn’t that far.”

“Thank you,” Scott let out a nervous sigh of relief.

Just as Stiles bent down to pick up his phone a body came crashing through the trees in front of him. He let out a totally and completely manly sounding yelp as he stumbled backwards and into Scott, knocking them both to the ground.

Scott grunted in pain, already wheezing from the exertion, and Stiles rolled off of him. He crawled closer to the guy who fell out of the forest, grimacing as he saw the guys shirt was tattered and torn with bloodstains covering it.

The guy was face down in the dirt, his back rising and falling in rhythm with his breathing. Stiles made note of half a back tattoo peeking out from under his torn shirt just in case he needed to remember any identifying marks.

“Come on, we need to go!” Scott yelped, pulling at Stiles’ hoodie.

“We can’t leave the guy!” Stiles sputtered, “He’s seriously fucked up, dude!”

“Stiles,” the guy on the ground rasped, and OK that was creepy, “Stiles, run.”

Stiles fell backwards, scrambling away from the bloody person who knew his name, “What the hell?”

The guy looked up and Stiles froze as they locked eyes, “ _Derek_?”

“Derek?” Scott shouted, “ _That_ is Derek?”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Stiles scrambled forward, “Derek, what the hell happened to you?”

Derek pushed himself up from the ground, still kneeling in the dirt, and grabbed Stiles by the shoulders, “You idiot, you were supposed to run.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Stiles shook his head, “Dude, I think you’ve lost too much blood.”

Stiles pushed Derek’s hands off his shoulders and checked Derek over, his clothes were torn to shreds and covered in blood but there didn’t seem to be any marks on him. Which was terrifying because that meant it wasn’t Derek’s blood.

“I know I made a joke about how I would be totally down if Laura was a serial killer,” Stiles laughed nervously, “but I didn’t really think it would be true.”

“What?” Derek blinked, and Stiles could have sworn he saw his eyes turn electric blue for a second, “Stiles, you need to take Scott and get out of here now.”

“I’m with him,” Scott yelled, “Take me and get out of here now!”

Stiles looked between Derek and Scott, torn on what to do. Scott was his best friend but Derek was clearly in some kind of trouble and he didn’t know if he could leave him. But Scott was asthmatic and even if Stiles sent him to the Jeep alone there was a serious chance that Scott could have an attack in the middle of the woods and die.

“Scott, grab his other shoulder, we’re getting him out of here.”

“Stiles,” Scott began but Stiles cut him off with a glare and Scott huffed, “Fine.”

“No,” Derek shook his head, weakly pushing Stiles away, “Can’t, Laura is out there.”

“Laura?!” Stiles gaped, “Derek, what the fuck is going on.”

Derek’s head snapped to the side, facing away from Stiles, and Derek let out a low and rumbling growl towards the Darkness. And, OK, that was a thing. Derek growled.

Then, a dog came flying and landed almost in Stiles’ lap. Except it wasn’t a dog, it was a wolf. And, OK, that was a thing too. Wolves in California.

 _Giant_ wolves in California.

Derek stumbled, falling to his knees and pressing his face into the fur of the wolves’ neck, “Shit, Laura, come on.”

“Laura?!” Stiles gaped, again, “Derek, dude, this is a wolf, not your sister.”

The wolf growled snapping weakly at Stiles’ fingers.

“Hey!” Stiles scolded.

The wolf looked up at him, its eyes were red, and it cocked its head to the side before letting out what almost sounded like a strangely human huff of exasperation.

“Laura,” Derek said again, “Where is it?”

The wolf looked up, nudging its head to the right, before dropping it back down in Stiles’ lap.

“Stiles, you have to go,” Derek growled, “leave us here, we’ll buy you and Scott enough time to escape.”

“Escape who?” Scott shouted, he was pacing back and forth and holding on to his inhaler like the lifeline it was.

In the time it took for Stiles to blink, Derek was gone. A huge, black mass appeared out of the forest and launched itself into Derek, knocking Derek across the clearing and over the remains of Stiles and Scott’s campfire.

The wolf wined, struggling to stand as it limped for a few feet before shaking its coat and seeming to recover a bit. The wolf ran forward and bit into whatever was on top of Derek, letting go and dodging when it tried to strike at it again.

The wolf darted into the forest for a second before coming out of the opposite side of the trees and throwing itself at the black shape again. Derek was on his feet a few seconds later, his face twisted into something Stiles couldn’t make out from the distance, but this time he knew for sure that Derek’s eyes were blue and glowing.

“Stiles, what the fuck is happening?” Scott’s hands were trembling.

Derek was thrown through the air again, his body colliding with a tree and Stiles winced as he heard a sickening snap. The wolf was the next to be thrown, landing in a heap next to Derek. Stiles looked on in horror as whatever Derek and the wolf were fighting stepped out into the clearing and became fully illuminated under the moonlight.

Stiles knew, somehow, what he was looking at.

“Stiles,” Scott’s voice was barely above a whisper, “what the hell is that?”

The monster stepped forward, its long arms dragging across the dirt, silver claws glinting in the moonlight. It tipped its canine head to the sky and let out a long and loud howl before turning its attention back to Stiles. Stiles was frozen in fear as the giant wolf stepped forward, _walking upright on its hind legs_ , and peeled its lip back in a snarl.

Scott’s breath next to him was ragged, he was gasping for air, desperately trying to get in what little oxygen he could.

Stiles knew they were fucked.

Until, they weren’t.

Derek was in front of Stiles in an instant, crouched down low, and Stiles couldn’t help but notice how Derek had claws. They weren’t as big as the giant ass wolf in front of him but still, claws.

Derek turned back to Stiles, his face was shifted, his nose different, eyebrows missing, and he was sporting a pair of wicked sideburns along with fangs and the previously noticed glowing blue eyes.

“Dude,” Stiles whispered, “you’re a werewolf.”

Derek blinked, like he somehow hadn’t expected Stiles to come to the ridiculously logical conclusion, before turning back to the wolf and ramming his claws through its chest.

The giant wolf let out a feral scream as Derek’s hands pushed deeper into its flesh and it struggled to get free. Stiles knew, just by basic anatomy, that Derek had missed its heart but it was enough to throw the wolf off balance.

Derek ripped his hands out, shredding skin as he went, and pounced on it again, furiously slashing at the beast as it fell to the ground. The other wolf, the one Derek was working with, and holy shit maybe that really _was_ Laura, joined in by clamping its teeth around the giant wolfs throat.

Derek and maybe wolf, maybe Laura, were making headway but it was obvious to Stiles that they were both injured and tired and the giant wolf still had a lot more stamina left in it. Stiles looked around for something he could use to help and his eyes fell on the can of lighter fluid that he’d brought in case he and Scott couldn’t start a fire.

“Scott,” Stiles spun to find Scott sitting against a tree and huffing on his inhaler, “Scott, I need the matches.”

“What?” Scott asked in between breaths.

“The matches!” Stiles repeated himself, “I gave them to you!”

“Oh,” Scott replied, dazed, “Yeah, here.”

Scott pulled the box of matches out of his pocket and handed them to Stiles with a shaky hand. Stiles snatched them away before running over to the can of lighter fluid and popping the top open.

Derek was still on top of the giant wolf and Laura was still trying to rip its throat out but they were both losing energy fast and it would only be a little bit longer before the giant wolf could overtake them again.

Stiles ripped a match out of the packet, failing to strike it with his shaky hand, and dropped it.

“Fuck,” Stiles cursed as he pulled another match out.

Stiles took a deep breath to steady himself and struck the match against the rough patch of the box and cheered in victory as it went up in flames.

“Derek!” Stiles yelled, “Also, possibly Laura!”

Derek and the wolf looked at him briefly as Stiles ran forward.

“Stiles!” Derek screamed, “What are you doing?”

“Move!” Stiles yelled as he dropped the lit match into the package.

Derek looked at him in confusion but the wolf seemed to realize what was happening and it let go of the giant wolfs neck and pulled Derek away by his wrist.

“Laura!” Derek yelled as he was pulled away.

Yep, the wolf was totally Derek’s terrifying sister. It made total sense as he watched them together.

The box in Stiles’ hands went up in flames and he winced as they licked against the palm of his hands. He knew he only had a few seconds to act so he ran as close as he could get to the giant wolf without being in its immediate range and squeezed the can of lighter fluid, a trail of liquid shot out and landed on the giant wolf, covering the front of its stomach and most of its legs in lighter fluid.

Stiles said a quick prayer as he threw the flaming box of matches at the giant wolf and watched in a combination of horror and accomplishment as it landed on the giant wolfs fur and immediately went up in flames.

The giant wolf let out a roar that Stiles could feel in his core and began to roll around of the ground, screaming and writhing in pain.

“Holy shit,” Stiles said, manic laughter bubbling out of his chest, “I…holy shit.”

Stiles felt a hand on the back of his hoodie and jumped as Derek began to pull him away from the burning wolf.

“That won’t stop him, we need to go. Now.”

Derek’s face was still twisted in a different form and Stiles couldn’t stop looking at it. Derek must have realized because the next seconds it shifted back to the human face that Stiles was more familiar with.

“Holy shit,” Stiles mumbled, “fucking werewolves.”

The wolf, _Laura_ , came up beside him and nudged his legs, snapping with her jaws. Stiles took that to mean, _hurry the fuck up and move_.

Stiles ran towards Scott, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him through the woods towards the Jeep.

“My jeep is this way,” Stiles called out behind him, “I’ll drive us out of here.”

“Laura and I will be fine, you two need to go.”

“No way!” Stiles yelled over his shoulder, “I’m not leaving you two out in the woods with that thing, even if it currently is being barbequed to a crisp.”

“It’ll heal,” Derek said, coming up next to Stiles as they ran, “Laura and I need to stop it before it can do that.”

“You and Laura almost died,” Stiles reminded him, “whatever that this is, it’s too strong for the both of you right now.”

“If we let him go he’s just going to hurt someone else!”

“And if you and Laura go back there and get killed by it then it’ll be free to hurt whoever it wants and I’d certainly like it if my dad didn’t have to be the one to try and take that thing down.”

Laura barked, and lord that was weird, but it sounded like an agreement to Stiles.

The four of them made it to Stiles’ Jeep quickly and Stiles fumbled through his pockets to try and find his keys. Derek’s breath was ragged and he stuck close to Stiles while Laura circled the perimeter of the jeep as Stiles opened the back gate for her to jump in.

 Derek climbed into the back seat, wedging his knees up close to his chest, and Stiles turned to find Scott.

Except Scott wasn’t there.

“Scott?” Stiles called out, “Scott, come on! This isn’t funny!”

The only response Stiles got was the sound of Scott desperately gasping for air.

“No, no, no no, no,” Stiles yelled as he ran around the front of the Jeep to find Scott on his knees and gasping for air.

“Can’t breathe,” Scott rasped.

“Your inhaler!” Stiles yelled, “Where is it?”

“Dropped it,” Scott mumbled, “too much running.”

“Fuck,” Stiles ran a trembling hand over his head before fishing his phone out of his pocket.

He tried to dial 911 and the phone was dead.

“Fuck!” Stiles screamed, “Derek!”

Derek was at his side in a second, “What’s wrong with him?”

“He has asthma, he can’t breathe,” Stiles voice was shaking, “I need you to help me get him into the car, we’re not that far from the hospital. We can make it, they’ll take care of him. Melissa is there, we need Melissa. Oh my god, Melissa.”

“Stiles,” Derek’s hand clasped the back of Stiles’ neck, “you need to calm down.”

“Calm!” Stiles snapped as he looked down at Scott was starting to turn blue, “My best friend is dying, Derek! Oh my god, he’s dying and I killed him.”

Derek let go of Stiles neck and pressed his head against Scott’s chest, “He won’t make it to the hospital.”

“What?” Stiles blinked, “You don’t know that! You can’t know that!”

“I can hear his lungs, Stiles, they’re starting to give up. He’s got maybe ten minutes left.”

“No!” Stiles screamed, tears pouring out of his eyes, “Scott can’t die! He’s…he’s my brother! He’s all I have and I’ve been such a little shit to him lately, I made him come out here and now he’s dying because of me!”

“Scott,” Derek said firmly, “Can you hear me?”

Scott nodded.

“I need to make sure you’re understanding everything I’m saying, are you?”

Scott nodded again.

“Good,” Derek turned his head towards Stiles.

Stiles felt warm breath on the back of his neck and he jumped before turning around and realizing that Laura was behind him.

“Laura,” Derek said, “He’s going to die if we don’t do something.”

Laura’s head dropped and she nudged Derek’s shoulder.

“He’s Stiles’ best friend,” Derek said, “we can’t just let him die. It’s my fault this even happened.”

Laura growled, admonishing her brother.

“What’s happening?” Stiles asked numbly.

“Laura?” Derek asked.

Laura nodded.

Stiles felt like he was floating outside of his body as he watched Laura fall to the ground and begin shifting from a wolf to a human. Stiles watched as her bones cracked and elongated, as her fur retreated into her skin, and as her face shifted from canine to human.

Only a few seconds passed before a very human, very naked Laura was laying in the grass.

“Laura is my Alpha,” Derek said, “she can bite Scott and it might save him.”

Stiles nodded, taking off his hoodie and handing it to Laura because he felt like she shouldn’t be naked for this for some reason.

“Scott,” Laura’s voice was rough as she shrugged on the hoodie, “I’m Laura Hale, I can try to save you but you need to know what you’d be agreeing to.”

Scott was getting bluer by the moment but nodded in understanding.

“My brother and I are werewolves,” Laura said slowly, “I’m an Alpha, my bite has the potential to heal you, it can cure your asthma and save your life.”

“Do it!” Stiles yelled, “You can’t let him die!”

“Stiles,” Derek whispered, pulling him in by the shoulder, “let her talk, Scott needs to consent to this.”

“I need you to know that the bite can save you, but it can also kill you. You’re in a weakened state right now and the success rate is already only about 85%. If I don’t bite you, you’ll die. If I do bite you and you survive then you’ll be like Derek and I. You’ll be a werewolf.”

Stiles’ eyes went wide. Laura wanted to turn Scott?

“That will save him?” Stiles asked, turning to Derek.

“If the bite takes,” Derek nodded, “the bite can cure most diseases and save someone if they’re dying but it’s always a risk.”

“Scott, if you survive you will be a werewolf and you’ll be part of my pack,” Laura said slowly, “You’ll be alive but your life will never be the same. Do you want the bite?”

Scott didn’t respond and for a moment Stiles thought it was too late, they’d spent too much time talking and now Scott was dead. But then Scott opened his mouth, he was nodding and struggling to speak.

“Yes,” Scott’s voice was almost inaudible but Stiles could see the tears in his eyes, “please, I don’t want to die.”

Stiles let out a wrecked sob and grabbed for Derek, desperately looking for any kind of comfort by pulling himself into Derek’s chest. Derek’s arms closed around him and squeezed tight.

“Alright,” Laura said softly, “this may hurt a little bit.”

Stiles watched, everything moving as if it was in slow motion, as Laura’s face twisted and her eyes began to glow red. Her brows drew together, her nose shifted deeper into her face, and she opened her mouth to reveal a sharp set of fangs.

Laura looked back at Derek, held his gaze for a brief second, and then nodded. She lifted Scott’s shirt, lowered her face down to the softest part of Scott’s side, and bit him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self harm warning: Derek digs his claws into his palms in an effort to block out the pain of being in his family old house. Laura stops him and makes sure he doesn't do it again. 
> 
> it's probably best if you don't think of season one canon when it comes to most things because it's gone full on divergence from here on out lol


	6. Sleep It Off

 

 

 

 

Chapter Six

Sleep It Off

 

“Alright,” Stiles said, bracing himself against the Jeep with unsteady hands, “do we take him to the hospital now?”

Stiles looked down at Scott, the color had returned to his face and it seemed like he could actually breathe but he was sweating bullets and mumbling something under his breath. The pale moonlight reflected off of his skin, illuminated the wisps of hair plastered to his forehead and the tracks of tears that had spilled out of Scott’s eyes as he thought he was dying.

Laura shook her head, “No, we can’t take him to the hospital. There will be no way to explain the bite or how he’d wake up healed overnight. If we take Scott to the hospital people will start asking questions and that will be dangerous for everyone.”

Laura was still clad in Stiles’ sweatshirt and nothing else and Stiles moved numbly to the back of his Jeep and pulled out his gym bag, sniffing the sweats to make sure they were actually clean before handing them to Laura.

“I know you’re down with this whole naked in the woods vibe but I’d be a lot more comfortable if you put on some pants.”

Laura laughed, grabbing the sweats from Stiles and bumping their hands together in the process. She shook the sweats out and was about to step into them before she shared an odd look with Derek. Derek’s eyes were narrowed, almost glaring, at his sister. Laura shrugged, rolled her eyes, and punched Derek in the shoulder. Hard.

Scott began to cough and Stiles’ attention was quickly drawn away from Derek and Laura. He fell to his knees and placed the back of his hand against Scott’s forehead.

“He’s burning up!” Stiles voice was beginning to shake.

Laura sat down softly next to him, “I know it’s scary Stiles but you have to trust me. It’s going to get worse before it gets better for him.”

“You…” Stiles trailed off, “You said there was a chance it wouldn’t take, that Scott could still die. How long do I have to wait to know if my best friend is going to die or not?”

Laura opened her mouth to speak but she was cut off by Derek’s voice, rough and pained, “You’d know by now. It’s very obvious when someone rejects the bite, it’s painful and ugly. Scott is showing no signs of rejection, it’ll be a long night and he’s going to be in a lot of pain but he won’t feel any of it when he wakes up.”

“Do you have somewhere we can take him for the night?” Laura asked, “We have a motel in town but I don’t want to take the chance of the people in the rooms next to us overhearing anything.”

Stiles nodded, “We can go back to my place, my dad is working an overnight shift and Scott’s mom thinks he’s supposed to be staying the night with me anyway.”

“That works,” Laura said as she stood, “I’ll ride in the back with Scott so I can watch him, Derek will drive. We need to get out of here before that thing out there recovers and decides to go for round two, Derek and I havent healed enough to stand a chance.”

Stiles clutched his keys in his hands, “It’s fine, I can drive. I need to do…something to take my mind off of this.”

Derek’s hand lightly wrapped around Stiles’ wrist, “Stiles, you can barely stand and your hands are shaking. If you crash then the only person who’s going to get hurt at this point is you.”

Stiles stared at Derek’s hand where it rested around his wrist and blinked once before numbly nodding and releasing his iron grip on his keys and pushing them towards Derek’s chest.

“I think I’m in shock,” Stiles said absentmindedly, “Like, this is a thing that would cause shock, right? Because I feel like I’m floating outside of myself a little bit and I don’t really know what to do next and I always know what to do.”

Laura appeared again, back from softly depositing Scott in the back seat of the Jeep, and wrapped Stiles in a bone crushing hug, “You take a few seconds to breathe, give Derek directions to your house, and then you’re going to shower, eat something, and we can answer any questions you have.”

“Right.” Stiles nodded, it sounded like a solid plan.

Laura let go of Stiles and crawled into the back seat, cradling Scott’s head in her lap, and pressing her hand against the top of his head.

Stiles let Derek guide him to the passenger’s seat with a hand on the center of his back, he opened the door to Stiles and made sure he was buckled in before speaking, “You did good tonight.”

“Huh?” Stiles’ face twisted in confusion.

“You saved Laura,” Derek said, “and me.”

“Oh,” Stiles said, smiling slightly, “you’re much nicer to me when I’m in shock.”

Derek laughed, “Don’t get used to it.”

Stiles reply was cut off by Derek slamming the car door in his face. Laura laughed from the backseat and Stiles turned to half-heartedly glare at her.

“Don’t give me that look,” Laura rolled her eyes, “my brother has said more words since meeting you than he’s said in the last month.”

Stiles sputtered, “What am I supposed to do with that?”

Derek grunted as he climbed in behind the wheel, “You’re supposed to tell me how to get to your house.”

“Right,” Stiles glanced at Scott and then down to his own shirt that was covered in Derek and Laura’s blood, “I need to shower.”

 

X

 

The Stilinski house was exactly what Derek expected. It was clearly a house where two men had lived without the influence of a woman for many years. The house wasn’t dirty or disheveled but it lacked a personal touch, a kind of warmth that Derek knew only a mother could bring.

He felt the same way about his and Laura’s apartment in New York.

Laura was the second through the door, Scott cradled in her arms, and she made a line for the living room. She gently sat Scott on the sofa and dropped to the floor next to him.

Stiles was the last through the door, closing and locking it behind himself, he looked at Laura, “My room is just upstairs, we can put Scott in my bed?”

Laura shook her head, “The couch is fine, Scott will recover from the bite faster if his pack is around him and it’s easier for all of us to be out here than cramped in your room.”

Derek bit the inside of his cheek, he wasn’t sure if Laura could sense that he wanted to be the only one in Stiles’ room, the one to run his hands over his things, to let his scent mix with the room. From the small glances that Laura kept throwing him, Derek thought she had a pretty good idea.

Derek cursed internally and tried to rein in his instincts, to fight back the wolf inside that wanted to make a claim. It was stupid and destructive for Derek to want more than he already had and he’d known Stiles for literally two days. Not to mention the fact that Stiles was a teenager.

Stiles still looked a little dazed, his eyes flickering over the room as if he wasn’t sure exactly where to start with everything he wanted to do, say, or ask.

“Shower,” Derek reminded him as he looked at Stiles clothes that were stained with his and Laura’s blood, “You might want to get rid of that shirt, burn it just to be safe.”

Stiles’ face flushed, “Right. Shower. Upstairs. Uh, make yourself at home but try not to eat too much food if you’re hungry. I mean, I don’t know how much werewolves eat but you two both look like underwear models and I’m sure you have to eat like major calories in a day so, you know, food but not a lot. Because I can eat but not like, werewolf eat, and my dad will probably wonder where all the food went.”

“Stiles,” Derek said, unable to fight back a bit of amusement in his voice, “go take a shower, Laura and I won’t touch anything until you’re back down.”

Stiles nodded, giving once last lingering glance to Scott, then back to Derek, before turning and shambling up the stairs.

Derek listened until Stiles turned the water on, just to make sure that he didn’t pass out from stress or anything else, before he made his way over to Laura and sat on the arm of the couch closest to Scott’s head. He looked down at Scott, the hair matted to his forehead and the sweat gleaming under the dim lighting, and he couldn’t help but think of the last time he’d seen a human bitten.

Laura must have sensed it because she gently sat her hand on Derek’s knee, “Don’t go there, not tonight.”

As far as admonishments went it was a gentle one but Derek knew what it meant. Laura couldn’t do this on her own, she couldn’t look after Scott, Stiles, and Derek at the same time. Derek nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat, he had to be strong for Laura.

“I can’t believe you actually did it,” Derek finally said, “you always said you wouldn’t.”

Laura laughed and it came out more broken than Derek thought she’d intended it to, “It’s a bit hard to stick to that when there’s a kid dying in front of you and his best friend is sobbing and blaming himself for it. Also, you kinda asked me to do it too.”

Derek flinched. In the moment it was the right choice, the only choice as far as Derek was concerned. He couldn’t sit by and let Scott die just because he was in the wrong place as the wrong time. He couldn’t sit there and listen to Stiles sob, screaming and crying, and lose one of the few people left in his life. But he hadn’t thought of Laura, of what kind of position that request would put her in. She never wanted to be an Alpha and she never wanted a pack that extended beyond Derek.

“I’m sorry,” Derek rasped, “I shouldn’t have…I wasn’t thinking of you when I asked and I should have been.”

Laura blinked up at him for a moment before crowding into his space and pulling Derek into a hug, “Hey, no. None of that.”

“What?” Derek cocked his head to the side, he’d expected her to be mad, furious even

 “I’m not mad, Derek. It was the right thing to do.” Laura said softly, kissing his forehead, “Even if you hadn’t asked me…I couldn’t just sit there and let Stiles lose someone like that.”

Derek was silent as his forehead rested against Laura’s. It was a few minutes before he spoke again.

“I guess this means we’re not leaving in a few days.”

Laura looked up and pushed Derek backwards softly, “You don’t have to stay.”

“I do.”

“You don’t. I know you hate it here and it’s going to take at least a month or two to teach Scott what he needs to know to be functional before I can even think about what happens after that. You don’t have to be here, I can teach Scott on my own.”

Derek growled, “I’m not leaving you alone. I’m never leaving you alone again.”

Laura laughed, lighter this time, “Well that sounds extremely healthy and not at all dysfunctional.”

Derek rolled his eyes, glad that the mood had lightened, they could talk more about the future later, “Dysfunction is what we do.”

They sat in silence for long minutes, only paying attention to each other and Scott. Laura had her back pressed to the couch as she sat on the floor, her head tilted back and pressed against Scott’s neck. Derek sat on the other arm of the couch, the one closest to the stairs, and angled himself so Scott’s feet were just barely touching him. They weren’t a big pack and they couldn’t pile on each other for comfort and healing but they did the best they could do.

It was several more minutes before Derek heard Stiles coming down the stairs. He turned his head just in time to see Stiles hit the landing, skidding to a stop as he ran a hand across his still damp head, water droplets falling onto his shoulders and the wood floor around him.

Stiles’ body was still wet with condensation and his thin shirt clung to him and ways that Derek shouldn’t have noticed. He hated himself for noticing.

“Everything good?” Stiles asked.

Laura hummed, “All good.”

Stiles waved his hand in their general direction, “Is this like…a thing?”

Derek sighed, “Packs take comfort in being close to each other, especially when one of their own is injured or newly bitten. It helps the healing process and calms everyone down.”

Stiles smiled, and god Derek was glad to see something on his face other than pure terror or blank nothingness, “Sooooo, a puppy pile.”

“Not a puppy pile.” Derek and Laura said in unison, startling both of them and drawing a surprised laugh out of Stiles.

“I see you’ve got your sense of humor back,” Laura smiled as she cracked a single eye open and looked at Stiles, “Shower did you good then, yeah?”

Stiles shifted awkwardly, “Yeah, searing hot water does a lot to snap your mind back into place.”

Laura let out a long sigh, “One day I’m going to have a conversation with you and my brother about why we shouldn’t self-flagellate.”

Stiles rolled his eyes before taking a step forward and hovering awkwardly, clearly unsure of where to sit. Derek watched him, watched Stiles’ mind work, until he settled on the coffee table. Their knees bumped and settled near each other as Stiles sat and Derek didn’t feel like drawing back immediately like he usually did whenever someone else touched him.

Stiles seemed content to leave his leg where it was and Derek made no attempt to move.

Stiles opened and closed his mouth several times and Derek watched Laura watch him. Laura seemed content to let Stiles take the time he needed to formulate his thoughts and Derek could only imagine the kind of questions that Stiles had. It was new territory for Laura too, she’d never…come out…to anyone before. Derek had, to Paige and to Kate, but he couldn’t think about either of those situations and compare them to Stiles.

“I have questions,” Stiles eventually said, “I just don’t know what my questions are.”

Laura smiled, “Take all the time you need.”

“Scott,” Stiles said after a few more minutes, “what’s really going to happen with Scott?”

Laura leaned forward and moved a bit closer to Stiles, “He’ll wake up in a few hours fully healed, he’ll be overwhelmed with the way all his senses will assault him in ways they never have before, he might be angry or confused and unsure what to do with all this new strength he has but he’ll be alive. And I’ll teach him to control that anger, to reel in his power and find an anchor he can use to keep himself steady when I’m not around.”

“You’re staying?” Stiles’ eyes went wide, “You’re not going to leave?”

Laura laughed softly, “There’s no way I could just leave Scott and let a 16-year-old boy figure out how to deal with all of this on his own. There’s also the issue with what you saw last night so between Scott and the rampaging monster in the woods I think I’m going to be in Beacon Hills for a bit longer than I anticipated.”

“What about Derek?” Stiles asked before he turned his wide, brown eyes onto Derek himself, “Are you staying?”

Derek felt himself go rigid, “I…I don’t want to. But I have to.”

Stiles shoulders slumped but he quickly recovered, “OK.”

“Anything else you can think of?”

“Do I need to get Scott’s mom to throw out all that nice silverware that she breaks out for the holidays?”

Laura cackled, “No. Silver doesn’t negatively affect us, most of the lore and pop culture things that you know about werewolves aren’t true. In fact, most of it was put out into the world by actual werewolves so people wouldn’t get suspicious.”

“I knew it!” Stiles exclaimed, shoving his fists in the air, “Take _that_ everyone who ever doubted any of my conspiracy theories!”

Derek rolled his eyes, “We’re not forced into a shift on a full moon, it does greatly affect us and Scott will feel the urge to go out and unleash the wolf inside him no matter where he is but that’s only because he’s newly bitten. Given time he will be able to control himself during full moons and at worst he’ll just be a little irritable.”

Stiles scoffed, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Scott irritable in his life.”

Laura laughed, dropping a hand on Sties’ knee, “Get ready for it, newly bitten wolves are drama queens.”

Stiles’ eyebrows drew together, “You keep saying bitten, is there another kind?”

“Born,” Derek supplied, “like Laura and I.”

“Born?” Stiles repeated.

“A werewolf who has a child with another wolf had roughly a 90% chance of that child being a werewolf by birth. A werewolf who has a child with a human drops that chance down to around 50%.”

“Our mother was a born wolf,” Laura smiled, “and our father was bitten, by our mother actually.”

“Kinky,” Stiles said, almost out of habit, and then quickly winced, “oh my god, I’m so sorry.”

Laura shook her head, “I made that joke at least once a month when we were growing up, it’s fine.”

“Our family was mostly born wolves,” Derek said, “we had a little brother who was a human and a younger sister who was a wolf. Those cousins I told you about were human too. Most of the adults were wolves, but a few of them did have human mates.”

Stiles mouthed the word mate and looked bewildered.

“Not like that, Stiles,” Derek sighed, “it’s just a word, boyfriend or girlfriend often doesn’t feel strong enough for the type of bond we form with people we love but it’s just a word. Not National Geographic.”

“Oh,” Stiles nodded, “So, knots?”

Laura did a spit take, spewing half of the glass of water that she was drinking all over Derek, Scott, and Stiles, “Did he…oh my god, Derek you should see your _face_!”

Derek didn’t need to see his face to know the horrified expression he was wearing and he could feel the heat rapidly rising in his cheeks, “Jesus, Stiles! No, just…no.”

Stiles really laughed for the first time since Derek heard him in the preserve and Derek figured that maybe a little humiliation might have been worth it just for that, “Right. Noted. Natural male anatomy. Cool.”

Stiles tipped his head up towards the ceiling and missed Laura craning her head towards Derek and mouthing ‘cool’ with a seductive waggle of her eyebrows.

Derek quickly flashed his eyes are her and Laura responded by flashing her back, the deep red making Derek wither a bit under her Alpha stare. Laura smiled, all satisfaction and teeth, and turned back to Stiles and began to supply him with the answers to every question he hadn’t asked yet.

Derek paid attention to the way Stiles reacted to the conversation more than what Laura was actually saying, he obviously already knew all this information and didn’t need to waste time listening to it all be explained. He watched as Stiles’ eyes grew comically large as Laura explained pack structures, watched how he smiled as Laura explained scenting and how they used their enhanced senses to track and fight, and he even smiled as Stiles goaded Laura into lifting the coffee table he was still sitting on with one hand just so he could see her demonstrate her strength.

Derek politely declined when Stiles asked if Derek would bench press him. Laura did another spit take and Stiles ended up having to go refill her glass of water because she dumped the rest of it all over Scott.

“Can you turn into a wolf?” Stiles asked Derek.

“No,” Derek shook his head, “I mean, theoretically I could but I don’t know how. I was never taught.”

“Can Laura teach you?” Stiles asked, “I mean, since she’s all down with the four-legged thing and all.”

Derek frowned, “No, Laura can make the full shift because she’s an Alpha and she has our mothers power inside of her. It’s a natural instinct, one she doesn’t know how to explain to me. It would be like me trying to teach you how to Beta shift.”

“Will you show me your…” Stiles trailed off and made claw hands and let out the least threatening snarl that Derek had ever heard.

Derek blinked at him, “You’ve already seen it.”

“Yeah,” Stiles shrugged, “but that was in the woods and it was dark and I was trying not to get eaten by the giant monster wolf thing. You don’t have to show me if it’s like…taboo to let a human see or something…I’m just curious.”

Derek sighed and shifted, lifting his hands off of the couch and setting them in his lap so he didn’t shred the couch. Stiles gaped at him in awe and Derek was surprised that there wasn’t a single trace of fear on him, not from his scent to his heartbeat.

“Dude,” Stiles smiled, “where did your eyebrows go?”

Derek growled, softly, “I don’t know, OK? It just happens.”

Stiles laughed, reaching out a hand towards Derek’s face but stopping half way, “Wait, sorry. That’s weird.”

Derek swallowed, “You can, if you want.”

Stiles’ eyes went wide and Derek heard the increase in his heartbeat. He reached out, moving slowly as if he was giving Derek every chance to stop him, and lightly rested one finger on Derek’s brow and drew it across the smooth skin. Derek felt his own heart pick up and he knew there was no way Laura wasn’t hearing it to.

As if she was summoned, Laura walked around the corner as a wolf and placed her head in Stiles’ lap.

Stiles screamed, pulling his hand away from Derek’s face faster than Derek thought he could move, and looked down at Laura.

“Jesus!” Stiles gasped, “Warn a guy before do that, huh?”

Laura gave Derek a side eye and Derek shifted back to normal and moved slightly away from Stiles. Laura huffed, irritated, and retreated back into the kitchen. She returned a few seconds later, human again and dressed in Stiles’ clothes.

“That’s what you get for talking about knots.”

“It was a completely valid question!” Stiles snapped, “I’m curious, sue me!”

“I bet you are,” Laura mumbled, low enough so only Derek could hear, with a smirk.

Derek was going to kill her.

Scott began to stir just as Stiles opened his mouth.

“What’s…” Scott’s voice was rough, “Where am I?”

“Scott!” Stiles lept forward, throwing himself on Scott’s chest and hugging him tightly, “Oh my god, Scott! You’re alive!”

Scott let out a loud wail, “Stiles! Stop screaming!”

Scot covered his ears and rolled to the side, curling into a ball. Derek could see his claws starting to appear and he quickly jumped up from the couch and scooped Stiles up and pulled him to the other side of the room.

Stiles flailed, and yelped, “Derek! What the hell!”

“He’s dangerous like this.” Derek said, holding Stiles in place.

“Right,” Stiles said, looking back at Scott who’s claws were fully pronounced now, “with the claws and the teeth and the meltdown.”

“Let Laura calm him down.”

Stiles nodded and they both watched as Laura approached Scott and placed her hand on the center of his chest.

“Scott,” Laura said, her voice soft yet holding an air of authority, “do you remember who I am?”

Scott stopped struggling on the couch and opened his eyes, “Everything is so loud, why is everything so loud?”

“It’s your body reacting to your enhanced senses, you’re overwhelming yourself and experiencing everything at once.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Scott gasped.

“Scott,” Laura swallowed, “Stop for a second and tell me what you remember.”

Scott closed his eyes and Derek could see he was concentrating too hard on trying to block out the ambient sounds around him.

“Scott,” Derek said, Scott and Laura both turned to look at him, “focus on Stiles, try to find his heartbeat. Focus on it and use that to orient yourself.”

Laura nodded. Using Stiles as a sort of temporary anchor was a bit brilliant. It should calm him and having Scott focus on the only person in the room that he really knows should help Scott sort through everything he’s hearing.

“Hey Scotty,” Stiles laughed.

“Stiles,” Scott said, sitting up and tipping his head in Stiles’ direction, “your heart is beating really fast.”

“God Scott, buy a guy dinner first.” Stiles rolled his eyes but a fond smile crept across his face.

Scott laughed, breathless, and seemed to settle back into the couch, “It’s loud but it’s like the sound is blocking everything else out.”

“Good,” Laura smiled, “Do you remember what happened?”

Scott opened his eyes and focused on Laura, “You’re Laura Hale, and that’s Derek Hale. Stiles! Dude! _Derek_!”

Stiles sputtered, “Now’s not the time Scott, listen to Laura _please_.”

Derek looked down at Stiles and quirked an eyebrow. Stiles was pointedly looking everywhere but Derek.

“We were in the preserve,” Scott continued, “then…that thing, and I was running, and then I was having an asthma attack.”

Scott chokes on a sob and Derek has to physically restrain Stiles from running over to him. Derek wasn’t taking any chances until Scott settled completely.

“I was going to die,” Scott said, his hands shaking, “you told me you could save me but that I’d be like you and Derek, that is was dangerous but the only way.”

“Good,” Laura smiled, “do you know what Derek and I are?”

Scott blinked, and Derek could see the gears turning in his head. Laura seemed content to give Scott all the time he needed to come to his conclusion but Stiles seemed to have other plans.

“Werewolves,” Stiles shouted, Scott and Laura’s heads both snapped to Stiles, “they’re werewolves, Scott.”

“Stiles!” Laura scolded, “so not cool!”

“Were…wolves…” Scott’s eyes went wide. He looked down at his own hands and then flinched as his claws began to appear.

“I’m…a werewolf…” Scott trailed off, “I’m not human anymore?”

Laura frowned, “You are, Scott. You’re still a human but there another part of you now, we call it a wolf. It’s inside of you, a living, breathing part of you.”

Scott nodded before looking up at Stiles.

Stiles smiled, “Dude,”

Scott laughed softly, “Dude,”

Stiles’ smile broke out into a grin, “Werewolves.”

Scott laughed louder this time, “Werewolves.”

Stiles flailed, struggling against Derek’s hold on his arm, “Can I go hug my best friend now?”

Derek listened closely to Scott. His breathing was even, his heart rate had calmed, and the scent of overwhelming anxiety had gone down. Derek nodded and let Stiles go, he knew Laura was close enough that she could help Stiles is something happened.

Stiles rushed forward, tacking into Scott on the couch and wrapping his limbs around Scott like an octopus. Scott laughed as Stiles bowled him over, his face dropping to Stiles neck and rubbing back and forth.

Derek bit back a growl.

“Dude!” Stiles laughed, “Are you nuzzling me?”

Scott blushed, “I don’t know, it just felt like a thing I should do?”

Laura laughed, “It’s a scent thing, you want people you’re close with to smell like you, especially humans in your pack.”

“Pack?” Stiles cocked his head to the side, “but Scott is in your pack, why isn’t he rubbing all over you?”

Laura’s smile was smaller, gentle, “Scott’s wolf must recognize that you two were close before the bite, it recognizes you as someone important to Scott. As pack.”

Derek tensed. Was Laura saying what he thought she was saying?

“But how can I be part of Scott’s pack when Scott is in your pack? Isn’t that like interloping or something? I don’t know but it sounds like it should be against the rules.”

“Can someone tell me what any of these words mean?” Scott frowned.

“Give us a minute, Scotty,” Stiles patted his cheek, “the adults are talking.”

Scott growled and Stiles let out a wicked cackle.

“You two are going to be a pain in my ass,” Laura sighed, “welcome to the pack, Scott. And Stiles.”

Stiles’ face broke out into a bright and blinding grin, his brown eyes impossibly wide as he looked at Laura, then to Scott, and finally at Derek.

Derek smiled back, just the smallest quirk of his lips, and Stiles’ grin seemed to grow even wider.

Derek realized in that exact moment that he was truly fucked.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is like...100% fluff but I wanted to get all the been there, done that werewolf explications out of the way before the plot picks back up in the next chapter and I didn't want to bog down a chapter with actual exciting things happening with 5k words of fluff and thus you get this! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	7. Code 187

 

 

 

 

Chapter Seven

Code 187

 

“So, what do we focus on first?” Stiles asked as they sat crowded around his kitchen table at 4am, “Scott possibly becoming a blood thirsty killing machine tonight when the moon comes up or the actual bloodthirsty killing machine that tried to kill all of us tonight and will probably be even thirstier for blood when the moon comes up?”

Stiles could see Derek’s hand clench on the edge of the table and he really, really hoped that Derek would keep the claws at bay because there really was no easy way to explain claw marks to his dad.

“We are not focusing on anything,” Derek said tightly, “Laura and I will take care of Peter, it’s too dangerous for you two to get involved.”

“Peter?” Scott repeated, looking lost and confused.

Stiles repeated the name in his head over and over, there was something familiar about it. It took a few more seconds for it to click and then Stiles’ jaw dropped, “That thing in the woods last night was Peter Hale? As in, currently catatonic for _six years_ Peter Hale?”

Laura grimaced as she ran a hand through her long hair, “We don’t know for sure, we’re just acting on an assumption.”

“Of course it’s Peter,” Derek snapped, “who else could it be? You’re telling me it’s a coincidence that we go visit Peter, you threaten him, and then that same night we’re attacked in the woods?”

Scott’s eyes went wide, “Dude, you threated a guy in a coma?”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Obviously he’s not in a coma if he’s in the woods trying to kill us!”

Derek growled, “He wasn’t trying to kill you! You both would have been fine if you weren’t in the woods last night!”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Uh, what happened to ‘ _thank you Stiles, you saved us, Stiles, Stiles-Wan Kenobi, you’re our only hope_ ’?”

Derek glared, his eyes flashing blue, “I never said any of that!”

Stiles glared right back, leaning forward and crowding into Derek’s space, “There was totally some thanking going on last night! You seem awfully ungrateful to the person who saved your furry ass!”

They both glared at each other for a few more seconds until Derek withered, “I’m grateful, Stiles. It was quick thinking with the lighter fluid and you probably saved all of us but it doesn’t change the fact that you could have gotten killed last night. What if he had decided to go after you and Scott before Laura and I? What if I didn’t get to you two in time? Last night was dangerous Stiles and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Stiles gaped, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say back. His shoulders deflated as the fight left his body and Stiles began to feel the weight of the nights events finally settle onto his shoulders.

“Or Scott,” Laura supplied, “we don’t want anything to happen to you or Scott.”

Scott frowned, “I thought I was a werewolf now, can’t I take care of myself?”

“One of the most dangerous things a new wolf can do is get into a fight,” Laura said, “you don’t know your limits or what you are or aren’t capable of. All you feel is a new sense of power and you think that you’re unstoppable. It takes more than raw strength to win a fight, Scott”

Derek nodded, “Look at last night, Laura and I have been wolves since we were born and Laura has the added power of an Alpha and we still almost lost. We were overwhelmed and underprepared and we almost died because of it. Scott, if you were just to stumble headfirst in a fight he could take you out in a second.”

Stiles nodded, it was hard to miss the logic in that, “Ok, new question then! What are your plans for tonight?”

Laura sighed as she leaned back in her chair, “Well, Derek and I intended on spending the night surveilling Peter’s hospital room. My running theory was that he wasn’t in control of whatever was happening to him, that his human side was lost but his wolf side was taking over in intervals. I figured that if the wolf was going to take over it would be during the full moon and we could use that to our advantage to catch him off guard and see if there was anything we could do to help him or to fix it. If not…”

Stiles didn’t need Laura to finish her thoughts on what would happen if they couldn’t have helped Peter, “I’m thinking last night changed things?”

Laura’s head dropped to Derek’s shoulder, “I was hoping that whatever was wrong with Peter was out of his control, that it was the wolf acting on instinct and we could fix it somehow. But now? I don’t think there’s a coincidence that Derek and I visited Peter and then we’re attacked the same night. We started our search just outside of the hospital and then not even an hour later the wolf came after us.”

Scott frowned, “This is probably a dumb question…”

Laura shook her head with a slight smile, “There’s no dumb questions when it comes to any of this Scott, don’t be afraid to ask me or Derek anything.”

Scott beamed and Stiles felt a little part inside of him warm, Scott had never been the smartest person when it came to school, he’d always had trouble in classes and had been at risk of failing a grade or two and it usually translated into him being afraid to ask questions about things he didn’t know because he didn’t want people to think he was stupid. Seeing Laura gently assuage that fear, and Scott’s grin at not being made to feel dumb, made Stiles forget all his petty issues with Scott over the last few weeks.

Stiles saw Derek looking at him out of the corner of his eye, probably wondering why he was looking at his sister with what could only be described as puppy dog eyes, and quickly tried to school his face back into a more neutral position as subtly as possible.

“Alright,” Scott said, “I know I’m new to this stuff but…couldn’t you just smell it to tell if it was Peter? I mean, I’m pretty sure I could pick Stiles out of crowd now and I’ve only know what he smells like for a few hours.”

“Dude!” Stiles yelped, shifting uncomfortably, “Totally not cool!”

“You don’t smell bad,” Derek said.

Stiles blinked, looking at Derek with wide eyes, and Scott spoke before he could try to follow up on that comment.

“No,” Scott laughed, “he’s right. You just smell like…Stiles, like my best friend. I would kinda just assume that you’d be able to smell someone you grew up with.”

Laura reached over the table and ruffled Scott’s hair and, Scott would probably deny it, but Stiles totally saw him preen at the attention, “Excellent question, but I don’t really know what’s going on. The wolf…it smells like Pack but there’s something wrong with it, it’s dark and twisted and smells more like death than anything. I’ve honestly never heard of or seen anything like this.”

“There must be some big book of monsters or something?” Stiles asked hesitantly.

Derek shook his head, “Our family had a bestiary that was hundreds of years old, passed down through generations of Alpha’s, but we lost it…”

Derek trailed off and, right, fire.

“Is there anyone you can talk to?” Scott asked, “Do you have friends that would know anything?”

Laura smirked, “There’s someone I could think of but I haven’t seen him in quite a long time, he didn’t really agree with our decision to leave town and I’m not entirely sure how helpful he’d be.”

Derek growled.

“You might as well tell them about the wall.” Derek said.

“What wall?” Stiles asked.

“Back at our old house,” Laura said, “we were there that night, we’d tracked the scent of the wolf through the woods and it led to our family’s home. We searched around inside and someone had carved a rune on one of the back walls of the house, large enough to emit magical energy that cut off our enhanced sense of smell through the entire house.”

“Rune?” Stiles gasped, “ _Magic is real?_ ”

Laura tipped her head back and let out a wicked laugh, “Duh, of course magic is real. You didn’t think that there were werewolves without magic, did you?”

Stiles sputtered, “I don’t know! I just learned about werewolves and how there’s bestiaries, which means there’s more crazy things than just werewolves! I wasn’t really thinking about witchcraft!”

“It’s more than just witchcraft,” Derek said, “I mean, witches are part of it, but there’s a lot more to magic than what you’re probably thinking right now.”

“Magic, most of the time, is more druidic and draws from the earth rather than black bubbling cauldrons and spells,” Laura explained, “there are covens and most of them practice some pretty serious shit but most basic magic is used for good or protection. Runes are primarily used by druids but anyone who has a tiny bit of magical energy inside them, such as a werewolf, can power a simple rune. It takes more innate magical abilities to pull off bigger stuff though.”

“Magic,” Stiles repeated, “this is really not how I saw tonight going.”

Scott rolled his eyes, “Dude, at least you didn’t almost die and wake up a werewolf.”

Stiles shrugged, conceding, “True. So, you think catatonic Peter isn’t so catatonic and is leaving the hospital, doing magic, and trying to kill you?”

Laura cringed, “It sounds insane when you put it like that.”

Stiles shrugged, he was pretty sure if anyone overheard half of the conversation they’d hade then they would all be locked up in Eichen House, “Can you watch Scott tonight and surveil Peter?”

Laura shook her head, “No, Scott has to come first. Being bitten the night before a full moon is one of the most stressful things a new wolf can experience because it doesn’t give their body any time to acclimate to the new senses and abilities before they’re amplified during the full moon. I can’t split my attention between Peter and Scott.”

“I hate to say it,” Derek said, “but Scott is the bigger danger tonight.”

“Hey!” Scott protested.

“I don’t think they mean it’s your fault,” Stiles said, “just that you have the greater chance of going crazy and killing someone since you don’t know how to control yourself.”

Scott glared, “Oh, that sounds so much better, Stiles!”

“Besides,” Derek shook his head, “I can’t imagine Peter would try to come after us two nights in a row, especially after Stiles stopped him with fire.”

Laura cringed.

Stiles frowned, “I didn’t mean to inflict psychological damage along with physical damage.”

Derek bumped his knee under the table, “Wolves take longer to heal from fire, if that was Peter last night then his wolf probably isn’t healed enough to make another move.”

“Oh,” Stiles said, “Well, yay me then.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Yes, Stiles. Yay you.”

Stiles grinned at Derek and then, since he obviously had no control over his body, he winked.

Derek’s eyes went wide and he coughed awkwardly before looking at Laura.

“My biggest concern is getting Scott out of his house overnight without causing a problem with his mother.” Laura said.

“That’s easy,” Scott shrugged, “she’s working tonight, I’ll tell her I’m staying with Stiles.”

“Where does she work?” Laura asked.

“She’s a nurse at the hospital.”

“Oh!” Laura gasped like she’d just finished a puzzle without all the pieces, “We met her!”

“We did?” Derek asked, his eyebrows creeping up his forehead.

“She was the nurse who gave us directions to Peter’s floor,” Laura said, leveling Derek with a look that screamed I can’t believe you don’t remember that, “that’s why Scott smelled familiar.”

“You guys really like to smell things,” Stiles shook his head.

“Everything smells so good!” Scott beamed, “Like, I didn’t know stuff could smell like this!”

Laura laughed, “Wait until you go into a public bathroom until you make that kind of statement.”

Stiles gasped and thrusted a single finger at Derek, “That’s why you didn’t want to go into the locker room!”

Derek grimaced, “I could smell it from where we were sitting, there was no way in hell I was going inside there.”

Scott cocked his head to the side, “You didn’t tell me that Derek was at the school too.”

Derek cocked his head to the side too, and Stiles just barely stopped himself from making a curious dog joke, “When did you tell Scott about me?”

Stiles’ eyes darted between Scott and Derek. Laura was sitting opposite Stiles with her head rested on her folded hands and a wicked grin on her face.

“Not important!” Stiles smiled awkwardly, “Point is, Scott will tell his mom that he’s staying here tonight and my dad is on the overnight shift all weekend so he’ll be gone and we can watch Scott here.”

Laura shook her head, “No, Scott is going to need to be chained up and I highly doubt your house can accommodate that.”

“Chained up?!” Scott yelped, “What?”

Laura frowned, “Did I forget to mention that part?”

“Yes!” Scott squealed, “I think that should have been like the first thing that you said!”

Laura’s shoulders fell, “Sorry, I’ve never done this before, especially with a bitten wolf.”

“Everyone in our family knew the procedure,” Derek said, “it was told to us when we were young so we wouldn’t be scared when we saw it happening or when it happened to us.”

“How long will you have to chain Scott up?” Stiles asked. The idea seemed sensible, as weird as it sounded.

“We’ll see how he does under his first moon and make a plan after that but usually a bitten wolf is chained during the moon until he exhibits control and the ability to stop the forced Beta shift.” Laura said, “The faster you find an anchor then the faster you’ll be able to control it.”

Stiles was unable to control his curiosity after a few hours of dwelling on the question that was on the tip of his tongue, “What are your anchors?”

Laura and Derek both tensed and Derek growled softly.

Stiles jumped back, unable to fight the slight bolt of fear that shot through him as the sound brought back the memory of the giant wolf in the preserve.

Derek’s anger seemed to drop away as he heard Stiles’ chair skidding across the floor. Derek’s face dropped and he quickly pushed himself away from the table, “I…”

Laura cut in before Derek could finish speaking, “An anchor can be a very personal thing to werewolves, it’s literally our link to humanity.”

“Right,” Stiles nodded dumbly, “which means that’s probably a really invasive thing to ask someone.”

Laura nodded, “It can be, yes.”

“Noted,” Stiles said, looking at the tense lines of Derek’s shoulders out of the corner of his eye, “I’m sorry.”

Derek shook his head, still a little tense, “It’s OK, you didn’t know.”

Scott let out a yawn, quickly followed by Laura who looked surprised at the sound she just made.

Stiles looked at the clock and grimaced when he saw the time, “Holy shit is it late. Or early. I don’t even have a concept of time at this point.”

Laura cracked her neck, “Everyone needs to sleep.”

“I’m exhausted,” Scott said as he let his head fall to the table, “it just hit me out of nowhere.”

“Side effect of the change,” Laura said, “your body is reacting to its new chemistry and you’ll have to start eating more to make up for increased energy burn.”

“Great,” Scott groaned, “my mom is going to love that.”

Stiles broke out into a fit of giggles as he imagined Melissa looking at Scott like he’d grown a second head after eating her out of house and home. Something told him that was going to be the most difficult part of Scott’s change.

“You two up to bed,” Laura said, “Scott, put my number in your phone and I’ll call you in the afternoon about meeting up before sunset. I’ll look into finding us a place that will hold up for the night, I have an idea of where to go but it might take a little bit of work to get us in.”

“Because that’s not ominous.” Stiles smirked

Laura rolled her eyes, “You sleep too. You need it more than any of us, weak and fleshy human.”

“Wow,” Stiles jaw dropped open, “alright fine, we’ll see how you like it when I show up tomorrow with a brand-new flea collar for you.”

Laura narrowed her eyes, “Try it and you’ll have to find a creative way to explain to your dad how you lost a finger.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Stiles waved her away, “I think you’re more of a doggy sweater kind of girl anyway.”

Laura growled playfully before reaching over and pulling him into a bone crushing hug.

Stiles yelped, “Hey! Weak and fleshy human!”

Laura rolled her eyes as she pushed him away and pulled Scott in for a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around him and lifting him off the ground. Scott laughed, squeezing back and trying (and failing) to lift Laura off the ground.

“We’ll work on it,” Laura said with a smile as she patted Scott’s cheek.

Derek got up from the table and reached out a hand to Scott. Scott looked at Derek’s hand like it was about to bite him before slowly reaching out and grabbing it. They exchanged the most awkward bro handshake that Stiles had ever seen and it took every ounce of self-control he had to not collapse on the floor in a heap of laughter.

“I’m gonna go shower,” Scott said as Derek released his hand.

Stiles nodded, “Just grab some of my clothes out of the drawer if you can’t find something you’ve left here before.”

Stiles was probably delirious from the lack of sleep but he could have sworn he heard Derek growl under his breath.

Scott laughed, “I don’t know where my clothes end and your clothes begin at this point.”

Stiles shrugged, “True.”

Scott bounded his way up the steps, taking three at a time, and Stiles looked on in awe.

Laura tilted her head towards the door, “I’m going to go make a call.”

Right. Now Laura was gone and he was in the kitchen with Derek. Alone.

“So,” Stiles said, shifting on his feet, “I feel like a dick for earlier.”

“Don’t,” Derek shook his head, “it’s fine.”

“It’s not fine,” Stiles rolled his eyes, “don’t say things are fine when they’re not fine.”

“Fine,” Derek glared, “it’s not fine but it’s not your fault.”

“Fine.” Stiles said, a bit indignantly.

“Fine.” Derek huffed.

“Great talk,” Stiles shook his head, reaching his hands behind his back and stretch out, smiling when he felt the felt his back pop, “I guess I should go get in bed before Scotty steals all the covers.”

“You sleep in the same bed?” Derek raised an eyebrow.

Stiles rolled his eyes, “It’s only weird if you make it weird, dude.”

“I’m not,” Derek stumbled, “It’s not…”

Stiles laughed softly, splaying his hand across Derek’s chest and patting one rather impressive pec a few more times than necessary, “Night, big guy.”

Stiles stilled as Derek’s hand reached around him head and settled on the back of Stiles’ neck, gripping it firmly, “Goodnight, Stiles.”

Derek was gone before Stiles could even open his mouth.

 

X

 

_Teeth. Claws. Blood._

_It was all Stiles could see when he closed his eyes._

_The hulking wolf crowding him against a tree and sinking its teeth into his neck as he screams out, helpless to stop the beast as it rips into him. Stiles could feel the pain, the burning intensity, as the wolf’s teeth shredded muscle and cracked bone._

_He tried to call out, to scream for help, but there was no one left to answer. Scott was dead, clawed to pieces. Laura was dead, cut in half by the beast and left to rot in the woods, and Derek was dead at his feet with his throat ripped out after defending Stiles for as long as he could._

_Everyone was dead and Stiles was going to join them._

_Stiles watched in slow motion as his father appeared from the woods, his gun drawn, and began firing on the wolf. The wolf dropped Stiles from its jaws and Stiles tried to scream, to tell his dad to run, but no words came._

_Stiles watched as the wolf leapt through the air and drove its claws through his dad’s chest, right into his heart._

_Stiles always knew it would be his dads heart that did him in._

_The wolf dropped his dad and slowly, so slowly, began to make its way back towards Stiles._

_The last thing Stiles remembered seeing was darkness._

 

X

 

Stiles was shaken awake by a pair of rough hands on his shoulders.

“Breathe, Stiles,” the voice commanded, “breathe.”

Stiles shook violently, lashing out with his fists and wincing in pain when his fist made contact with what Stiles could only assume was a rock. Stiles yelped, pulling his hand back to his chest and cradling it protectively, before opening his eyes. He froze as a pair of electric blue eyes locked onto him and rough hands gripped his shoulder harder.

Stiles tried to open his mouth to speak but the hands just gripped his tighter. He wasn’t sure if he should keep fighting the touch or lean into it.

“If you don’t calm down you’re going to wake Scott.” the voice said.

Stiles looked to his left and saw Scott, asleep, drooling, and half hanging off the bed. Stiles would be concerned that Scott was somehow sleeping through a violent struggle and some very manly screaming but it was Scott. Scott has slept through four earthquakes and Stiles screaming derogatory things at people from Germany in bouts of insomnia induced Call of Duty sessions.

Stiles squeezed his eyes shut and drew in a deep breath, taking a moment to collect himself, before the familiarity of the electric blue eyes dawned on him.

“Derek?” Stiles whispered, “what the hell are you doing in my room?”

Derek blinked, his eyes changing back to their normal color, “Your heart was racing.”

Stiles’ eyebrows rose to his hairline, “Is that an acceptable excuse for somehow being in my room at…” Stiles craned his head and looked at his alarm clock, “6:30 in the morning?”

6:30. That meant his dad would be home soon and it would be very hard to explain the very grown man who was holding him down in his bedroom.

Derek withdrew his hands, as if he could sense Stiles’ thoughts, and took a step back, “I thought you were in trouble.”

Stiles felt like he was missing a very important part of this conversation. He sighed and slipped out of the covers, stopping to pull on a pair of sweats over his boxers, and silently thanked god for the fact that fear was the best way to kill awkward morning wood. Stiles jerked his head at the door for Derek to follow him and they were soon standing in the narrow hallway. Stiles closed the door to his room and made his way around Derek and to the stairs.

Stiles yawned and stretched his hands above his head before pulling out the coffee maker, “Alright, explain.”

Derek sat at the table and folded his hands together, “I told you, I heard your heart going crazy and I thought you were in trouble.”

Stiles sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Which doesn’t actually explain how you heard my heart.”

“I was outside your window.” Derek said, like it was the most perfectly normal thing to say to someone at 6:35 in the morning.

Stiles dropped his mug in shock and watched as it fell to the floor and shattered, “Fuck!”

Derek jumped up from the table, pushing Stiles away from the glass, and started to pick up the shards of glass quickly. Stiles watched as Derek piled all the glass in his hands, ignoring the small cuts that began to bleed for only a second before healing, and threw the ruined mug in the trashcan.

“Thanks,” Stiles said dumbly, reaching down to wipe the drops of Derek’s blood off the floor, “now would you care to explain why you were outside my window?”

Derek grimaced, “It’s not like that. I wasn’t…sitting on your roof or anything. I was watching your room from the woods.”

Stiles doubled over in surprise laughter, “Should it worry me that you think that sounds better than sitting on my roof?”

Derek growled, “Laura and I have been watching your house all night, taking shifts to make sure the wolf didn’t track you down or Scott didn’t lose control. We were trying to keep you safe. I heard your heart, you smelled scared, so I climbed into your window to make sure you weren’t dead. Laura is shifted and asleep under a tree right now.”

“Oh,” Stiles said softly, Derek was protecting him, “I…that’s really nice. I’m sorry, I’m kind of a dick in the mornings.”

Derek rolled his eyes but was unable to hide a soft smile, “Just in the mornings?”

Stiles shrugged, “Point.”

Derek was silent as Stiles made the coffee but Stiles could feel Derek’s eyes on him the entire time. He was self-conscious enough that Stiles was sure Derek could smell his lingering fear and anxiety.

Stiles already missed the days when people couldn’t _smell his emotions_.

“I was having a nightmare,” Stiles finally said as he sat down at the table and slid a cup of black coffee at Derek, “I assume you like it black, you have a whole black coffee vibe about you.”

Derek glared before getting up from the table and pouring milk and about nine spoonful’s of sugar into his coffee.

Stiles laughed as Derek sat back down at the table and he quickly snatched Derek’s mug and took a sip of it, grimacing as he swallowed, “Jesus, dude! This is like drinking a candy store!”

Derek jerked the mug out of Stiles’ hand and cradled it defensively, “It’s how I like it.”

Stiles smiled over the rim of his mug before taking a sip of his own black coffee, “Sorry, I just assumed we were coffee soul mates or something.”

“Or something,” Derek mumbled as he took a sip of his coffee and let out a contended sigh.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Stiles felt himself relax. He was beginning to like the fact that he could sit in silence with Derek without feeling an overwhelming need to keep a conversation going or trying to entertain him like he did with everyone else.

“You died,” Stiles said, rushing to clarify when Derek looked at him in confusion, “in my nightmare. Everyone died trying to defend me. You, Laura, Scott, and then my dad showed up and that thing just killed him like it was nothing. It felt too real.”

“You’re alive,” Derek said, resting his ankle against Stiles’ under the table, “everyone is alive.”

“I know,” Stiles let out a shaky sigh, “ it’s just…I had nightmares for years after my mom died, I wouldn’t sleep for days at a time because I was scared of seeing her dead body when I went to sleep.”

Derek was silent, content to let Stiles work through his feelings, the constant press of his leg enough to convey that he was there and listening.

“I was in the room when she died,” Stiles said, “by myself. I couldn’t get the image of her laying there lifeless out of my mind. Sometimes I’m afraid that it’s all I’ll be able to remember about her one day.”

Derek’s jaw clenched but he remained silent.

“Scott almost dying in the woods,” Stiles whispered, “I never would have forgotten his face like that if he’d have died. And then you getting hurt for me, and Laura covered in blood. God, you don’t even know me and you stepped in front of a giant rage filled monster wolf to protect me. Who does that?”

“People who can,” Derek said, “I could protect you so I did. I haven’t been able to protect a lot of people in my life but I could protect you so I did it.”

“You don’t know me,” Stiles challenged, “you don’t know me and you could have died for me!”

Derek shrugged, “You’re pack. The strongest members of a pack protect the ones who can’t protect themselves. It’s what we do.”

Stiles decided it was too early to be contrary so he just said, “Well, thank you. And thank you for making sure I wasn’t being murdered earlier.”

Derek nodded and stood from the table, walked over to the sink, and poured the rest of his coffee down the drain, “Your dad just pulled up.”

Stiles looked over his shoulder in a panic as he heard his father’s keys in the door. He quickly turned back to Derek and jumped up from the table to help him flee from the house but when he turned around Derek was gone and his empty mug was sitting in the sink.

“Stiles?” his dads confused voice came from behind him, startling Stiles into jumping.

Stiles spun, clutching his chest, “Geeze, Dad. Make some noise, would ya?”

His dad looked tired, frazzled, and pale, but he still smiled his usual confused smile when it came to Stiles, “Why are you awake and drinking coffee at 7am?”

Stiles made finger guns and waved them at his dad, “You know me, good ol’ wacky Stiles!”

His dads face dropped, “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Stiles sighed, “Nothing’s wrong, dad.”

The Sheriff crossed his arms and leveled Stiles with a look. Stiles withered under the stare and let his shoulders slump forward.

“Fine,” Stiles huffed, “I had a nightmare and I couldn’t fall back to sleep.”

The Sheriff frowned and pulled Stiles into a hug, “It’s been a while since you’ve had one bad enough to keep you up, huh?”

Stiles nodded against his dad’s chest.

“You mom?” The Sheriff asked hesitantly.

Stiles shook his head, “Scott. Other people. You.”

The Sheriff’s hands fell to Stiles’ shoulders and pushed him back so he could look at Stiles in the eye, “You don’t have to be worried about me, kiddo.”

Stiles let out a rough laugh, “Of course I have to be worried about you.”

“Stiles,” the Sheriff sighed, pulling him back in for another hug.

His dad was cut off by the police radio on his shoulder crackling.

“Sheriff,” the tinny voice said, “I’m so sorry to bother you.”

The Sheriff sighed, “I just got home.”

The voice broke back through, “I wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t important, I tried your phone and no one picked up.”

The Sheriff patted all his pockets and sighed before replying into the radio, “Probably left it in my car, what’s wrong?”

 “The code 187 from last night,” the voice said.

Stiles eyes went wide as his dad’s face snapped to him. The Sheriff held up a single, stern finger in warning and mouthed ‘no’ before walking away.

Stiles, naturally, followed.

“Go on,” his dad said into the radio.

“We have a witness who just came in, claims she saw someone in the apartment building and overheard the struggle.”

“Damn,” The Sheriff said, “has anyone taken her statement.”

“That’s the problem,” the voice said, “she’s really scared and said she’ll only talk to you and no one else.”

The Sheriff scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed, “Alright, tell her I’m on my way in. I’ll be there in 10.”

“Copy.”

Stiles flattened himself against the wall as his dad walked by. The Sheriff paused and stuck his head around the corner and glared. 

“Forget everything you heard and go back to sleep. I’m serious, Stiles.”

Stiles nodded and went back upstairs to placate his dad, listening for the cruiser to pull out of the driveway.

“Shit,” Stiles whispered, “shit, shit, shit.”

A code 187 was the police code for a murder.

Someone was killed last night.

 

X

 

Laura and Derek returned to their hotel room in the early afternoon. They’d stayed up almost all night to keep an eye on Scott and Stiles and Laura was as close to passing out as she could possibly be, regardless of the few hours she’d gotten to sleep as a wolf while Derek took over the watch.

They’d followed Scott home after he left Stiles, telling him again to call her if he needed anything. It was a bit jarring to leave a new Beta alone like that but even Laura knew there was only so much you could explain to a parent and she wasn’t in any rush to explain to an angry mother why herself, a 26-year-old woman, was following and fighting to urge to cuddle a 16-year-old boy.

Laura hadn’t really had much time to think about things last night, about the fact that she had an actual, honest to god, Pack. She’d sworn up and down for the last six years that she didn’t want one and it was the truth. Mostly.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want a pack, is was that she didn’t trust herself with a pack. She was never formally taught how to lead, how to care for everyone equally, how to settle disputes between members and keep herself viewed as both an open, warm figure while also giving off an air of strength and power.

She wasn’t her mother and she never would be. She couldn’t protect her actual family six years ago and there was always this voice in the back of her head that told her there was no way she’d be able to protect a pack of her own.

She was content to spend the rest of her life with Derek and their rag tag pack of two. It was safe. It was family. They were equals and they protected each other.

But nothing could have prepared Laura for the swell of energy she’d gotten when Scott woke up after the bite. She could feel the energy flowing through her, humming like a live wire, a steady thump of power and electricity. A smaller, more controlled burst flowed through her again a few hours later when she’d proclaimed Stiles a human member of the pack too.

She felt like an Alpha, an honest to god, uninhibited, Alpha. She knew what it was supposed to feel like but she never imagined she’d feel it herself.

Even now, she could close her eyes and sense Derek next to her, Scott across town, and if she really tried, Stiles at his house.

“Can you feel Scott?” Laura asked Derek as they sat on the end of the bed in their shitty motel room.

Derek nodded, “It’s weird. I…never thought I’d feel that again. Being able to sense someone other than you.”

Laura’s smile was all sadness and she wrapped an arm around Derek to pull him closer, “I know, pup.”

Derek let out a small groan as he nuzzled closer, “It’s not…terrible. It’s just weird.”

“I wish you could feel what I’m feeling,” Laura laughed, “when Scott woke up it was like every euphoric sensation I’d ever felt all at once.”

“Gross,” Derek shuddered, “I felt a pull when he woke up. And after Stiles.”

Laura nodded, “The bonds settling into place.”

“We have a pack now, huh?” Derek asked.

Laura laughed, “Yeah, didn’t count on that when I came back.”

Derek fell back towards the bed, “What do we do now?”

“Not think about it!” Laura announced, flying up from the bed and planting her hands on her hips, “We ignore the future like the good, emotionally repressed adults we are and focus on nothing but the full moon tonight!”

Derek laughed, and god was it music to Laura’s ears, “Yes, Alpha Hale.”

Laura’s face broke into a grin as she dived back onto the bed, pouncing on Derek and wrestling him to the floor. They rolled around the room, bumping into walls and end tables, and knocking a lamp to the ground. They fought for dominance and fun, lightly nipping at each other with fangs and scratching with claws for a few minutes before breaking into a fit of giggles and collapsing on the ground next to each other.

Laura rubbed her arm and the healing scrape from the jagged edge of the shitty bed, and smiled, “It’s been a long time since we did that.”

Laura’s mind drifted to the past and replayed memories of herself and Derek in the family room, wrestling each other over who had to take out the trash or do the dishes. She remembered when her mother would find them rolling around on the ground and slamming each other into walls while laughing. She could still see the look of fondness and annoyance that her mother always wore when she caught them.  

“It’s nice,” Derek said, “I feel…nice.”

Laura just barely resisted a sly comment about Stiles, not wanting to ruin the moment with Derek. She’d seen the looks he’d given Stiles last night, watched the way that Derek jumped to defend him in the woods. Laura wasn’t dumb, she had eyes and she’d never seen her brother react to someone like that.

It made her happy and for the first time since coming to Beacon Hills she thought that maybe, just maybe, she hadn’t made the wrong choice in coming back here.

Laura was drawn out of her thoughts by a steady knock at the door. She shared a look of confusion with Derek before she listened beyond the door. She heard several men breathing, the chatter of a radio, and a familiar heartbeat.

“It’s the Sheriff,” Laura whispered.

She got up from the ground with a groan, pulling Derek up with her, and quickly arranged the room back to a more presentable fashion and pushed the two twin beds apart before she opened the door.

“Well” Laura said as the door swung open, “if it isn’t my favorite elected official.”

The Sheriff’s face was stone cold, “Is your brother here, Laura?”

Laura narrowed her eyes, “Why?”

The Sheriff tensed, “Just answer the question, please.”

Laura felt Derek appear behind her, “Is there a problem, sir?”

The Sheriff took a step backwards, settling his hand on his side arm, “Mr. Hale, I need you to come with me.”

“Excuse me?” Laura asked, “What the hell is this?”

“You’ll make this easier on your brother if you stay calm,” The Sheriff said, “Derek, I need you to slowly step out of the room with your hands raised.”

“Why?” Derek asked.

Laura could feel the tension and anger radiating from her brother. She reached back and wrapped a hand around his wrist and squeezed in an attempt to calm him down.

“We can talk about it at the station,” The Sheriff said, “please don’t make a scene.”

Laura glared, “No one is going anywhere unless you tell us what the fuck is going on.”

“Fine,” the Sheriff sighed, “if that’s how you two want this to go then you leave me no other choice.”

Laura took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and focused on her father’s smile, the way her mother’s hair blew in the wind before they’d go on runs as a family, the first time she ever saw Cora smile as a baby.

“Derek Hale,” The Sheriff said, his voice cold and clinical, “you’re under arrest for the suspicion of the murder of Adrian Harris.”

“What?!” Derek growled.

Laura spun, clamping down on Derek’s shoulders, and let her eyes flash red before she whispered low enough that Derek was the only one who could hear, “Derek, that is Stiles’ father. Keep yourself together. I don’t know what’s going on but just go with it, don’t say anything until I figure out what the hell is happening. Don’t fight.”

Derek clenched his jaw but nodded with a sharp jerk of his chin. Laura looked down and made sure there were no claws in sight before stepping to the side and letting one of the officers with the Sheriff cuff Derek and pull him out of the room.

There was a small crowd gathered in the parking lot, and at the grocery store across the street, and it took every ounce of control that Laura had to fight the wolf inside her who was screaming and howling at her to protect her brother, her Beta.

Laura watched as Derek was read his rights and deposited into the back of a squad car. Derek turned and looked at her as the car pulled out of the parking lot and Laura held his gaze until he was out of sight.

Laura let herself have one moment of anger as the door to the room closed by driving her hand through the flimsy bathroom door, knocking it off its hinges, and letting out a wild snarl. She looked down at the door for a few more second before taking another deep breath and walking to the small table in the corner of the room.

Laura fished her phone out of the pocket of Stiles’ hoodie and called the only person she could think of to help her.

Stiles answered after the first ring, “Laura! I was just about to call you! Listen, I think we might have a problem, something happened last night and I think it might be related to- “

“Stiles,” Laura cut him off, “your father just arrested Derek under suspicion of murder.”

Stiles was silent for a moment, “Oh hell. I’m calling Scott, meet us at my house.”

“OK,” Laura said before hanging up, barely questions herself as to why she was taking orders from a 16-year-old boy.

Laura changed quickly, glad to at least be in her own clothes now, and grabbed the keys to the shitty rental car to make her way to Stiles’ house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i swear i never intend to write so much DIALOGUE but it just happens


	8. Like Prison Break, but only the first season

 

 

 

 

Chapter Eight

Like Prison Break, but only the first season

 

Laura was the first to arrive to Stiles’ house. Well, she didn’t so much arrive as she show up on the back porch as a giant wolf with a backpack in her mouth.

Stiles stepped out of the way as Laura walked past him, “I don’t even want to know how you got here without being seen.”

Laura huffed out a low bark, something Stiles took to mean as a laugh, and made her way down the hall and towards the guest bathroom. Stiles waited patiently, checking his phone for any texts from Scott, and looked back up when Laura reemerged in the living room. She was dressed in a pair of tight jeans, a red tank top, and a leather jacket.

“I got into the car at first but I figured I’d make it here faster if I ran so I kept to the woods.” Laura said in answer to Stiles’ previous question, “It cut my travel time by about five minutes.”

Scott barreled through the front door a few minutes later, shirtless and covered in sweat, “Dude! I ran all the way here! It was _awesome_!” 

“You ran in public?” Stiles asked, “Like, just on the sidewalk, running around in all your sweaty shirtless glory?”

“Yeah,” Scott shrugged, “I just felt like I should, you know, burn off some of this crazy excess energy before tonight.”

Stiles sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face before turning to Laura, “I’ll let you take this one.”

“Scott,” Laura said calmly, “I know we kinda glossed over some things last night because it was so late but I know I told you how important discretion is, right?”

Scott nodded.

“OK, so you can see why people might think it’s a bit odd if they saw a formerly asthmatic kid sprinting down the sidewalk and running faster than no normal human could possibly run?”

“Well, yeah,” Scott said, “but I figured people would just think I’d been training or I’m on some new kind of medication. It’s not like the first thing that will pop into people’s minds would be that I’m a werewolf.”

Laura took a deep breath, and god bless her patience when they were all really there to discuss the fact that Derek had just been _arrested for murder_ , “God, this is my fault. I should have explained more about the dangers of people finding out last night but everyone was so tired and I figured it could wait until later today and now Derek’s been arrested and we only have a few hours until sunset and there’s not enough time for everything.”

“I’m sorry,” Scott frowned, “I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s no one’s fault,” Stiles said, “just learning experiences! Scott, don’t run around shirtless in public like an Olympic athlete and Laura try not to get so stressed out over not telling Scott every possible werewolfy thing in a few hours.”

“Werewolfy?” Laura raised an eyebrow, “You realize that I’m an Alpha, right? That I’m technically _your_ Alpha?”

Stiles nodded, “And as the weird squishy human of the bunch I feel confident that I can say things that you’d probably throw Derek or Scott through a wall for just thinking.”

Laura glared but couldn’t keep the fondness out of her eyes, “Keep testing me and I’ll find something to throw you through that won’t break any bones.”

“Noted!” Stiles saluted, “Now that we have all that out of the way we should probably discuss the whole Derek is in jail thing. What happened?”

Laura growled as she fell down onto the couch, “We were in our motel room and then your dad knocked on the door and said Derek needed to come outside. He had this really intense look on his face and that’s when I knew it wasn’t a social call.”

“The Sheriff face,” Scott said, “it’s pretty scary.”

Stiles nodded. The Sheriff face had been directed at him a few times through his life and every time it happened it chilled Stiles to the bone.

“Once Derek realized he was about to be arrested he had a bit of a freak out,” Laura said, “I had to calm him down, remind him that it was your dad and not some random, and I told him that I’d figure it out and come to get him. If it was anyone else other than your father I probably would have fought them the second they put their hands on Derek.”

“Well thank you for not maiming my dad,” Stiles shuddered, “I really appreciate it.”

“I would never,” Laura shook her head, “even if he wasn’t your dad our mom still respected him and that was back before he even was the Sheriff, I could never hurt him.”

His dad knew Derek and Laura’s mom? Stiles filed that revelation away for a later date before getting his mind back on what they were all there for.

“What did dad say when he arrested Derek?” Stiles asked, “What was the actual charge?”

“Suspicion of murder.” Laura said.

Stiles let out a sigh of relief, “Oh thank god, that’s good.”

Laura’s eyebrows shot up to her forehead and Scott looked at Stiles like he was insane, “That’s good?”

Stiles nodded emphatically, “Being arrested for _suspicion_ of murder is not being arrested for _actual_ murder. It’s just a flimsy blanket charge that they can bring someone in with against their will if the person isn’t cooperating. It means that there’s evidence that might point to Derek but it’s flimsy at best, most likely an eyewitness report that says they saw or heard something but they don’t have any physical evidence.”

“So we can just go pick him up then?” Laura asked.

“No,” Stiles shook his head, “dad can hold him for 24 hours and then he’ll either have to decide if he wants to keep going forward and charge Derek with murder or let him go while he builds a case.”

“Why did your dad even arrest Derek?” Scott asked, “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Stiles sighed, “I don’t know, all I know is what I overheard him saying this morning.”

“What did he say?” Laura asked.

“It’s why I was glad you called, I was trying to see if I could find anything else out before I called you but there was an actual murder last night. One of the dispatch people was talking about it on dad’s radio when he got home.”

“And?” Laura prompted.

“Well, people don’t usually get murdered in Beacon Hills so I was worried that this dead body was connected to the giant wolf that tried to kill us last night,” Stiles said, “the dispatch officer said someone came in to the station after he left, a woman, and she had information about the murder but she would only talk to my dad.”

“If Derek was arrested then it didn’t have anything to do with last night, right?” Scott asked, “Maybe it’s just some weird coincidence?”

“It’s connected,” Laura said grimly, “the person who was murdered last night was Adrian Harris.”

Scott gasped, “Mr. Harris was murdered?”

Stiles hummed, “Wow, couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”

Laura smirked, “That’s dark.”

Stiles shrugged, “If Harris was the one that was murdered then why aren’t you a suspect? Why is Derek the one being arrested?”

Laura ran a hand through her hair, “I don’t know but there’s no way it’s a coincidence that I go after Harris when I get into town, Derek comes back, we all get attacked in the woods, and then Harris gets murdered and some eyewitness claims that is was Derek.”

“Dispatch said that the woman claimed she saw someone go into the building and then overheard an argument,” Stiles said, “it doesn’t sound like this woman claims that she caught Derek red handed with the murder weapon.”

“Paranoia maybe?” Scott suggested, “The woman saw something but she wasn’t entirely sure what it was so she blamed the newest person in town? You do have to admit that Derek does look a bit shady sometimes.”

Stiles couldn’t argue that fact, having been personally stalked by Derek Hale at least twice now. After they got Derek out of jail they would have to do something about his public image.

“I need to know what the witness said,” Laura clenched her fist, “if I know what she’s claiming then I can come up with an alibi for Derek to get around it.”

Stiles shook his head, “No offense but my dad isn’t going to buy anything that you’d be selling. You’re his sister, the person he maybe, possibly murdered is someone you had a problem with, any alibi that comes from you is going to be picked apart to death and it might not stand up. My dad is good at his job, he’d be able to find a lie somewhere.”

“Then what do I do, Stiles?” Laura growled, her eyes flashing red, “Because right now the only solution I see is going in and getting him out myself.”

“Hey!” Stiles yelped, “I have a plan, OK? A good plan, a fool proof plan. No need to Prison Break the whole situation, even if it does sound like season one cool before the show became a mess.”

“Oh no,” Scott mumbled. Stiles glared at him.

“A plan?” Laura sounded skeptical, “It’s been 20 minutes since you found out about this and you already have a plan?”

“Of course,” Stiles said with shrug as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “plans are like, my thing.”

“Fine,” Laura huffed, “let’s hear this plan then.”

“First question,” Stiles said, “how good is Derek’s hearing? Would he be able to hear me from my dad’s office?”

Laura looked confused, “He’d probably be able to hear you from the diner across the street if he concentrated. Why?” 

“Because,” Stiles grinned, “I said my dad wouldn’t believe an alibi from you but there is someone who he would believe.”

“Who?” Laura asked.

“Me,” Stiles said, “I’ll be Derek’s alibi.”

 

X

 

The Sheriff that sat across from Derek in the interrogation room was a far cry from the Sheriff that had sat with Derek and Laura the night she’d gotten arrested. This Sheriff was virtually unrecognizable from the one that lined the hallways of the Stilinski house in framed photographs, smiling with his arm around his son and wife.

The Sheriff’s face was cold and calculated, it radiated bad cop and Derek had yet to meet the good cop, “So, Derek, want to tell me where you were last night?”

“What time?” Derek asked.

Laura had told him to be quiet, to not say anything, but Derek wanted to know why he was being accused of murder.

The Sheriff hummed and tipped his head up towards the ceiling, Derek had to fight back a smile because it was such a Stiles-like gesture, “Let’s say between midnight and four in the morning.”

 _‘Running around the woods fighting a killer werewolf and then in your home with your underage son’_ was not an acceptable answer so Derek opted for the safest version of the truth, “I was with Laura.”

“Right,” the Sheriff nodded, “and where were you and Laura?”

“The preserve,” Derek said, “we went to visit our family’s old house.”

“You’re telling me that you and your sister went into the woods in the middle of the night just to look at your old house?” The Sheriff was skeptical.

“That’s what I said,” Derek glared, “Why am I here?”

“Did anyone else happen to see you in the woods?” The Sheriff asked, ignoring Derek’s question entirely.

Derek hesitated long enough for the Sheriff to notice, Derek watched as he wrote something in his notebook before answering, “Just Laura.”

“So, your only alibi is that you were with your sister, alone, in the woods, with no one else around?” The Sheriff leaned forward, “That’s a tough one.”

Derek stayed silent.

“Look at it from my point of view,” The Sheriff said, “you’re telling me that your only alibi is your sister, who I already have a big suspicion would lie for your anyway.”

“I don’t care about your suspicions,” Derek snapped, “it’s the truth.”

The Sheriff made another note in his book, “Even setting aside the fact that Laura is family and family lies for each other, the woman who I previously arrested for assaulting the man that you’re now being accused of murdering is really not that great of an alibi.”

Derek growled, just barely managing to keep fangs and claws at bay, “I didn’t murder anyone! This is fucking insane!”

“Do you have anger problems, Mr. Hale?” The Sheriff asked, “Because it looked to me, the crime scene that is, that whoever murdered Mr. Harris had a bit of an angry problem.”

Derek bit his tongue until it started to bleed and then heal.

“I’ve been in Beacon Hills for a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crime scene that messy,” The Sheriff said, “we don’t get a lot of murders around here but when they do they’re always usually crimes of passion. An angry wife who caught her husband cheating and stabbed him or a dumb kid who got ahold of a gun and through it would settle all of his problems.”

No murders except for an entire family burned alive in their home. Derek swallowed the blood in his mouth and took a deep breath.

“Most murders in Beacon Hills don’t involve the victims head almost being completely severed by a very sharp blade and then being left to bleed out all over his kitchen floor. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much blood at a crime scene, Mr. Hale.”

Derek bit back a bitter laugh, “You think I slit Adrian Harris’ throat?”

If Derek was going to murder someone that would be the last method he’d go for.

The Sheriff folded his notebook closed, “I’ll be honest, Derek. I don’t know what to think.”

Derek raised an eyebrow.

“All I know is that I’ve got a witness here who is terrified of you, who said they saw you go into Harris’ building and overheard you two fighting. They said they heard you threaten him about your sister, you told him to stay away from her and get the hell out of town. They say that they heard Harris tell you no, to go to hell, and then a loud slamming sound followed by Harris screaming and then a loud thud.”

“That’s it?” Derek asked, exhausted, “That’s all you have?”

“It’s a lot more than I had at the beginning of the night,” the Sheriff shrugged, “this witness doesn’t have a reason to lie.”

“Let me talk to this witness then,” Derek said, “I’ll tell you if they’re lying.”

The Sheriff laughed, “That’s not happening.”

“What?” Derek leaned forward, “Don’t I have the right to face my accuser?”

“That’s only in a court of law,” The Sheriff smiled, “Do you see this going that far, Derek?”

Derek was saved from having to reply by a loud crash from outside of the interrogation room.

“What the?” The Sheriff looked over his shoulder before he got to his feet.

Derek angled his head to the door and listened, his eyes going wide when he heard a familiar voice.

“Tara!” Stiles shouted, “Let me go! I have- “

“Stiles, I love you but I will arrest you,” a woman, Tara probably, said sounding entirely too used to delivering that specific threat.

“it’s important!” Stiles yelped, “Super, duper, life and death important! I need to talk to my dad now!”

Derek winced. This could only mean one thing and he knew it wasn’t good.

There was another loud crash, then silence, and suddenly the door to the interrogation room flew open. Stiles was standing in the door way, his face beet red, and he was gasping for air. His eyes fell to Derek immediately and he smiled, small and private.

“Stiles?!” The Sheriff shouted, “What in the actual hell?”

“Dad!” Stiles jumped, “I need to talk to you right now!”

The woman Stiles was arguing with earlier came up behind Stiles and wrapped her hand around his arm in an attempt to pull him away, “I’m so sorry, Sheriff. I thought I had him but he slipped away.”

Stiles had a death grip on the door frame and the Sheriff sighed, “He tends to do that. I’ll take care of it, Tara.”

Tara nodded, releasing Stiles and walking away.

“You’re half a second away from being grounded for the rest of your life,” The Sheriff shouted, “I’m in the middle of a damn interrogation, Stiles! You’ve just corrupted this entire investigation. What the hell is wrong with you, son?”

Stiles winced, a bolt of sadness crossing his face for a brief moment before he recovered, “That’s why I’m here!”

“What?” The Sheriff deadpanned.

“I have information! Important information!” Stiles said, locking eyes with Derek, “I need to talk to you and I need you _to listen to every single thing I’m going to say._ ”

“Stiles,” The Sheriff warned, “this is not the time.”

“Please! This is totally the time!” Stiles begged, “You know I wouldn’t be doing this is it wasn’t important. I just need you to listen to me, dad.”

“I don’t have time for this, Stiles!” The Sheriff yelled.

Stiles let out a wild noise, flustered, and threw his arms up in the air, “Dad! I know where Derek was last night and I need to talk to you about it! Please!”

The Sheriff paused, his entire body going rigid as a board, and slowly looked between Stiles and Derek. Derek could sense the anger that was pouring off of the Sheriff and watched as the man closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.

When he opened his eyes and spoke he appeared much calmer but Derek could only assume he’d done this for Stiles’ sake because the way the Sheriff’s heart hammered in his chest broadcasted his anger to Derek like a megaphone.

“My office.” The Sheriff’s voice was calm, “Now.”

Stiles hovered in the doorway, glancing at Derek quickly, “You’re going to _listen_ to me, right?”

It finally clicked in Derek’s head. Stiles was a complete idiot and if they both made it out of this without being arrested he was going to tell him that to his face. But for now, Derek settled on catching Stiles’ eyes and nodding slightly to let him know that he’d listen in on their conversation.

“Yes, Stiles,” The Sheriff said, “Go wait in my office, I’ll be there in a second.”

Stiles nodded, closed the door, and Derek listened to his footsteps until he was in the Sheriff’s office.

The Sheriff turned around slowly, a grim look on his face as he reached up and turned the power off on the camera that was recording the interrogation, “You’re going to have a hell of a lot more to explain to me after this, Derek. Because now I’m much more interested in how my underage son happens to know where you were in the middle of the night. Thank really carefully about your answers, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Derek watched the Sheriff as he left the room and then listened as his footsteps followed the same path that Stiles had taken a few moments earlier. He heard the door swing open with more force than was strictly necessary and heard Stiles yelp as the chair he was sitting in let out a loud squeak when he turned to face his father.

The room was quiet for a few moments, only the sound of both Stilinski’s breathing, before the Sheriff finally spoke.

“Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn’t arrest you right now and trust me, it better be good or you’re spending the night in a holding cell.”

There was no falter in the Sheriff’s heartbeat so he was telling the truth, he was prepared to make Stiles spend a night in a holding cell if he wasn’t satisfied by his son’s answer.

 Something told Derek that the two of them had gone through this song and dance before.

“You can’t arrest Derek!” Stiles said quickly.

“You’re on a first name basis with a murder suspect now?” The Sheriff asked, his tone confused and speculative.

Derek could almost hear Stiles roll his eyes, “You already know that I met him and Laura at the station the other night, am I supposed to call him Mr. Hale? It’s not like he’s your age or something.”

Derek winced.

The Sheriff coughed, “Regardless, you’re 16 and I’d prefer it if you weren’t friendly enough with a grown man to be on a first name basis with him.”

Derek heard the gulp that Stiles made when he swallowed, “Then you’re really not going to like what I have to say.”

“Stiles,” The Sheriff warned, “you’re on thin ice.”

“Derek couldn’t have killed anyone last night because he was with me.”

Derek’s stomach dropped and he flinched back so violently he almost fell out of his chair. It took Derek a moment to regain his composure and to focus back in on the conversation between Stiles and his father and when his ears tuned in all he could hear was silence and two rapid heartbeats, one of anger and one of fear.

“You have two seconds to convince me that I don’t need to add statutory rape onto Derek’s list of charges.”

Derek closed his eyes, he was going to be sick.

“What!?!” Stiles yelped, “Seriously? You really…me…and Derek? You really think? _Dad_!”

“Stiles!” The Sheriff snapped, “Use your words. Quickly. My trigger finger is getting very twitchy.”

Stiles took a deep breath, “OK, while I appreciate it that you think I’m actually attractive, good enough, or in shape enough for someone like _Derek Hale_ to want to have sex with, that is entirely not what happened.”

Derek was going to need to figure out some way to improve Stiles’ view of himself if he made it out of this situation alive.

The Sheriff’s rapidly beating heart calmed down, “First, you’re better than someone like Derek Hale,” Derek let his head drop to the table as the Sheriff continued, “Second, let’s say for a moment that I do believe you…would you like to explain to me why you were with Derek Hale in the middle of the night if you weren’t doing something illegal with him?”

Stiles’ chair was making a creaking nose from his nervous bouncing, “I was…kind of upset last night. I don’t know, you know how I get dad…and you saw me this morning. Last night was just…a lot. I was looking forward to hanging out with Scott but he blew me off and you were at work and I just couldn’t really sit in an empty house.”

Stiles was drawing Scott into this now? What the hell was he doing?

“Stiles,” The Sheriff’s voice was softer now, “what happened?”

“I tried to go to sleep early but I had a dream about mom, I couldn’t stay in the house because everything reminded me of her and I just had to get out of there and be somewhere else.”

Stiles heartbeat was erratic, almost pounding out of his chest due to the volume of lies he was telling. Derek felt sick to his stomach, Stiles was lying to his father and using his mother’s memory to sell it just to save Derek from being charged with murder?

The Sheriff sighed and a chair scraped along the floor before coming to a stop, presumably in front of Stiles, “Keep going.”

“I didn’t really know where to go so I just drove for a little bit and ended up in the preserve.”

“You went to the preserve?!” The Sheriff snapped, “I told you to stay out of there! Especially with all these animal attacks lately!”

“I know! Why do you think I made Derek promise that he wouldn’t say anything to you?”

“God dammit, Stiles.” Derek muttered to himself before listening back in.

“Where does Derek Hale come into this?” The Sheriff asked.

“I walked around for a bit,” Stiles said, “and you know me, I got lost, fell and scraped up my leg, and ended up walking around in circles until I heard voices off in the distance.”

The Sheriff drew in breath as if he was about to speak but Stiles stopped him.

“Yes, I know. Why would I go towards the creepy voices in the woods, I’m aware it was a stupid decision but if I didn’t I’d probably still be lost in the woods.”

The Sheriff sighed, resigned, “Continue.”

“Well,” Stiles said, “turns out the voices I heard were Laura and Derek and that I was a lot closer to the old Hale house than I thought I was. Laura saw me limping through the woods and took a look at my leg and Derek hung out with me while she went to go get the first aid kit from their car.”

Derek sighed, fucking Stiles had everything covered.

“How long was Laura gone?” The Sheriff asked.

“Like, 20 minutes maybe,” Stiles said, Derek could hear the shrug, “not long enough to murder someone if that’s what you’re asking.”

The Sheriff sighed, “What time was this?”

Stiles paused for a moment, thinking, “Around 1am probably.”

The Sheriff’s chair groaned as he stood up and Derek listened to him walk across the office and pick up what he assumed was his desk phone, he heard the dial tone, a quick punch of numbers, and a short bit of ringing.

“Medical Examiner’s office,” the voice answered, “how can I help you?”

“Hey, Cathy,” The Sheriff said, “It’s Noah Stilinski, I was wondering if you got a time a death for my murder victim last night.”

“We just finished the prelims so give me a second to check the paperwork.”

There was the sound of rustling papers on the other end of the line, followed by a short pause before, “Based on atrophy and the state of the tissue we estimate time of death between 2:40am and 2:50am.”

“Alright, thanks so much. You let me know if anything else comes up.”

“Will do,” the woman said just before hanging up.

Derek hard a low buzz come from the room just before Stiles’ began to search through his pockets.

His cell. Someone had sent him a text.

The seat across from Stiles groaned again as the Sheriff sat, “How long were you with Derek last night?”

Stiles shrugged, “A few hours, I guess.”

The Sheriff’s heart began thumping angrily again.

Stiles sighed, “Again, not like that. We were just talking.”

“Talking?” The Sheriff asked, obviously skeptical, “What could you and a grown man have to talk about?”

Stiles was silent for a moment before he whispered, “Sorry.”

It was only for Derek’s ears.

“Dead parents,” Stiles gritted out, “there’s not really anyone around who I can talk to who really understands, you know? I started telling him about mom and then he told me things about his family and we just ended up talking for a while until Laura came back.”

Derek’s claws extending, just barely pressing into the think skin of his palm and threatening to puncture them.

The Sheriff’s heart slowed, and Derek figured if he was close enough he’d smell the sadness on both the Stilinski’s, “You said Laura was only gone for 20 minutes, where’s the rest of the time?”

“They helped me find my way back to the jeep,” Stiles began, “and I’ll give you one chance to guess what happened after that.”

The Sheriff groaned, “It didn’t start.”

It wasn’t a question which meant that Stiles’ jeep’s reliability was a recurring theme in their life.

“Laura’s good with cars apparently,” Stiles said, “so she looked at it while Derek and I hung off to the side.”

“ _Laura_ is the one who’s good with cars?” The Sheriff asked, obviously not sold on this part of the story.

“Really, dad?” Stiles scoffed, “Stop trying to enforce toxic gender norms.”

“I, uh,” The Sheriff sputtered, Derek couldn’t help but crack a smile, his emotions from a few moments earlier brightening slightly, “OK, fine, Laura fixed the Jeep.”

“It took her about an hour because it was dark out and all we had were our phones and two flashlights but she finally got it running, there’s a cracked hose that she sealed off temporarily by the way, and I drove them back to where their car was parked.”

“What time was this?”

“Around 2:30”

“And you went your separate ways after that?”

“Nope,” Stiles said, “Derek insisted that he and Laura follow me home incase anything happened to the jeep again or I fell asleep at the wheel.”

“Really?” The Sheriff asked, “He was that concerned about your welfare?”

“I mean, I did spend like 30 minutes yawning and talking about how dumb and tired I was.”

The Sheriff sighed, “Anything else?”

“Not really,” Stiles said, “they followed me home, I made it there a few minutes before three and I offered them coffee since they helped me out, they both said no because they were tired and were heading back to their motel room, I went upstairs and slept for a few hours until I had another nightmare and then you found me in the kitchen.”

“And you’re positive that they didn’t leave your sight until after 3am?” The Sheriff asked, his voice chancing from father to Sheriff.

“Yes, dad.” Stiles said, “I’m 100% sure. I was in bed by 3:05.”

“Dammit.” the Sheriff sighed, “Do you know what kind of position this puts me in?”

“I’m sorry,” Stiles said softly, “I just…I needed to tell you the truth. Derek couldn’t have killed anyone.”

“How did you even know Derek was here?”

Derek tensed.

“I got…curious after you left this morning and I may or may not have been listening to the police scanner and then I heard you picked up Derek.”

“Jesus, kid,” The Sheriff said, “I don’t even know what to do anymore. I have a witness who swears up and down they saw and heard Derek Hale at the scene.”

“I dunno dad,” Stiles said, “they’re wrong though, it’s not possible for Derek to have been there unless they’re saying he was there after I last saw him?”

“I can’t discuss those kind of specifics with you, you know that.”

Stiles was undeterred, “Derek’s the first new person in town in ages, maybe this witness is just freaked out and through she saw Derek. He does look a little shifty, I’ll give you that.”

Derek scoffed. He did not look shifty.

“Stiles, I need you to be honest with me,” The Sheriff was serious again, “you have to be telling me the truth, I need to log this officially and if you’re lying…this will destroy my career, son. Not to mention the fact that you’d be arrested for giving a false statement to the police. You think any good college would take you after that? This isn’t something I can just brush off to the side, it’s a murder investigation.”

Derek’s stomach dropped. Why was Stiles risking so much for him? He wasn’t even just putting himself in jeopardy anymore, it could affect his father now. Why did Derek matter that much?

“It’s a good thing I’m not lying then,” Stiles said brightly, “I swear to you that I was with Laura and Derek during those hours last night.”

Stiles heartbeat was steady. It wasn’t a lie, not that statement. The entire story around it was false but the actual fact that Stiles was with him and Laura was still true.  

“And nothing happened with you and Derek?” The Sheriff asked, “If he did something…something you’re scared to tell me about…”

“Dad!” Stiles yelped, “God, no, Derek did not bad touch me! God, why are you so focused on Derek? Why aren’t you lining up Laura for your next episode of To Catch A Predator?”

The Sheriff groaned, “Because…god, never mind. I don’t have the energy left to even touch that conversation right now.”   

Stiles was quiet for a moment, “I’m sorry. I know…I know I really messed this up but I couldn’t just let something happen to someone when I know they’re innocent.”

Derek could hear the sound of Stiles being pulled into a hug, “You didn’t mess anything up, kiddo. You’re doing the right thing, it just so happens that the right thing makes my job a hell of a lot more difficult.”

“I’ve already made peace with the fact that I’m going to be grounded until I get married.” Stiles laughed.

“You’re not..” The Sheriff trailed off, “you didn’t do anything wrong. Well, I’m not too crazy about the fact that you went out into the woods in the middle of the night but…I don’t know, Stiles. We’ll talk about this later. I need to figure out what the hell I’m going to do next.”

“OK,” Stiles said, “I’m sorry…for everything.”

The chair groaned as the Sheriff reclined, “Just go find Johnston and give him your statement, he’s the main deputy on this case. Just tell him the facts, nothing more nothing less.”

“Alright,” Stiles said.

The door to the Sheriff’s office opened and then closed. Derek tracked Stiles through the halls until he heard him talk to Deputy Johnston and begin to give his official statement. The Sheriff’s footsteps came closer and Derek let his head fall to the table, his arms pillowed underneath it. He looked up just as the Sheriff opened the door and pulled out his chair to sit down.

“So, Derek,” the Sheriff said, “mind telling me why you neglected to mention that you spent a few hours in the woods with my underage son last night?”

Derek winced before taking a moment to collect himself before speaking, “I promised Stiles I wouldn’t say anything to you.”

The Sheriff blinked, “That’s quite a promise, especially if you think that it’s still valid during a murder investigation.”

Derek shrugged, “I knew I didn’t kill anyone and that you’d find no actual evidence to prove that I did so I didn’t think it was worth getting Stiles in trouble just to save myself a few hours of questioning.”

“That’s quite the dedication to someone you’ve only just met,” the sheriff said, “someone who, might I remind you, is my teenage son.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “You may have mentioned that once or twice.”

“Don’t start with me, Hale.”

Derek sighed, he really didn’t want to commit to the story that Stiles gave but it was beyond the point of no return at this point, “Stiles reminds me of myself, I didn’t have anyone to talk to after the fire and I was too scared to talk to Laura because I didn’t want to hurt her by bringing up bad memories so I bottled it up and closed myself off. Stiles needed someone to talk to, someone who understood him, so I talked to him for a few hours.”

The Sheriff leaned forward, muttering, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“I don’t know what kind of person you think I am,” Derek said, “but I’d never…do anything that you must be thinking. All we did was talk about his mother and then I talked about my family, I think it helped us both. I didn’t see any harm in it because as soon as you release the Camaro, Laura and I will be gone and I’m never coming back to this place.”

The Sheriff shook his head as he stood, “You sister is in the lobby, someone will come by in a few minutes and let you out of here. Stiles’ statement is pretty much iron clad, no one is going to question the son of a Sheriff and Stiles knows that, for better or worse. Laura’s car should be released tomorrow afternoon.”

“Thank you,” Derek said, “I’m sorry for all the trouble that we’ve caused for you.”

The Sheriff paused with his hand on the doorknob, without turning around he said, “Just do me a favor, stay the hell away from my son.”

Derek looked away from the Sheriff and didn’t answer, he wasn’t sure he could make that promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter we'll have some police station fallout, a full moon, and we may or may not meet one or two of the many argents


	9. The Fullest Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> get ready for the longest chapter so far!

 

 

 

 

Chapter Nine

The Fullest Moon

 

“Laura just texted,” Stiles said to Scott who was currently halfway up a tree in Stiles’ back yard just because he wanted to see if he could do it, “she’ll be here with Derek in a few minutes.”

Scot nodded, climbing higher in the tree. Stiles, selfishly, wished Scott would fall just because he wanted to see how the whole werewolf healing thing applied to broken bones.

Stiles sat on the back-porch step and waited for Derek and Laura, they were still meeting at Stiles’ house because none of them felt like going back out into the preserve and Scott’s mom was currently asleep at their house. His dad would still be wrapped up for a little while longer before coming back home.

“Laura is coming up through the woods!” Scott called down from the top of the tree.

“Of course she is,” Stiles said, to no one in particular.

Laura emerged from the woods a few seconds later with Derek trailing a few feet behind her.

“Faster way again?” Stiles asked.

Laura shook her head, “We both agreed it would probably be best if no one saw either of us knocking on the Sheriff’s front door when you’re the only person home.”

Stiles nodded, it was a good idea. The back yard was bordered by the woods on all sides so they didn’t have to worry about prying eyes out back, it made for a good temporary basecamp.

Derek stalked around Laura, angrily stomping towards Stiles and stopping just close enough that Stiles had to look up to see his face, “Stiles, you’re a fucking idiot.”

Stiles blinked, “Excuse me?”

“What were you thinking?” Derek yelled, “You lied to your father, to the police! You had no idea what this person was claiming they saw, what time they were claiming they saw it! You didn’t know what your dad already knew, for all we know there could be planted fingerprints of mine at the scene or something like that!”

Stiles felt his face twist into anger, “Well, I’m sorry! I’m sorry I didn’t leave you alone to get arrested and charged for murder when all of us know you didn’t do it! Laura wouldn’t have worked as an alibi because my dad wouldn’t believe that you two weren’t lying for each other! It had to come from someone he trusted!”

“And if your dad ever finds out you just lied to him then he’ll never trust you again.”

Stiles flinched, “I know, OK? I know. He’ll never find out, Derek.”

Stiles expected Derek to be more grateful. It was true that he had to lie to his dad to do it but even then, he didn’t lie that much. He just made up a different story that didn’t include running through the woods and being attacked by werewolves.

 “It was a good plan, Derek,” Laura finally spoke up, “we didn’t have time to think of anything else. Stiles did what he had to do and it worked.”

Derek glared at Laura, “It was still stupid.”

Laura rolled her eyes, “And how many stupid things have you done to help me over the years? It’s what we do. We do stupid things to help each other because we care.”

“Why do you care?” Derek asked Stiles, “We’ve known each other for three days.”

“It’s like you said this morning,” Stiles’ voice was soft, “you do what you can to protect the weaker members of your pack. You have your strength, I have my brain and a connection to my dad. You were the weaker one in the situation and I helped you. It’s no different than you standing in front of the giant wolf and getting a claw in your stomach. They’re both different kinds of stupid and dangerous and we both did them to protect the other.” 

Derek glared, “You make no sense.”

“Right back at you!” Stiles yelled as Derek turned around and stalked back towards the woods.

Stiles was equal parts confused and angry. Derek had done such a 180 from this morning where they sat and talked quietly and Stiles couldn’t help but be pissed off, he’d assumed that Derek would have been grateful for getting him out of a murder investigation but maybe there was some weird macho werewolf pride thing on the line and Derek had a complex about having to be saved by a stupid human.

“Derek!” Laura called after him.

“I need a minute!” Derek called back, not stopping his straight line towards the forest, “Scott, come with me.”

“Oh,” Stiles said under his breath, “so he’ll talk to Scott but not me.”

Derek and Laura both looked at him, Laura with a grin and Derek with a confusing twist to his face. Stiles blinked back at them until Scott hopped down from the tree and ran over to him.

“We all just totally heard you say that.” Scott said with a soft smile, dropping his hand to Stiles’ shoulder and squeezing it in solidarity, “I’m on your team.”

“Stupid werewolves and their stupid super hearing,” Stiles mumbled again as Scott walked away, “I can’t even talk shit to myself anymore.”

“We heard that too!” Scott yelled back.

“I know!” Stiles glared, turning to stomp up the porch steps as obnoxiously as he could before taking a seat on the swinging bench in the corner.

Stiles could just see Derek beyond the tree line. He watched as he bent down towards Scott and told him something before he stuck his hand out to the left. Scott nodded and waited a few seconds before taking off and sprinting through the woods, bobbing a weaving through trees until Stiles couldn’t see him anymore. Derek waited a few moments, looked back at the house, and then stripped off his shirt and ran after Scott.

Asshole.

Stiles looked up at the sound of footsteps and found Laura standing in front of him, “This seat taken?”

Stiles shrugged, then figured he should stop acting like a child if he wanted Laura and Derek to take him seriously, “Nope.”

Laura nodded and sat down. They were silent for a few minutes, just swaying back and forth as the old wooden swing croaked with every movement. It was Stiles’ mom’s favorite swing and he hadn’t sat on it much since she died and it was a bit weird sitting on it now with another person sitting where she always did.

Laura eventually spoke, breaking the awkward silence, “Since Derek didn’t say it, I will, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Stiles said, “Why is he being a dick?”

Laura laughed, “You really have no filter, huh?”

“I didn’t come with one,” Stiles smiled, “factory defect.”

Laura huffed, “There’s nothing defective about you.”

Stiles shook his head, “What is it with you and Derek and the pep talks? Can’t I revel in my teenage angst for a few minutes?”

“Revel away,” Laura rolled her eyes, “Derek’s not really being a dick, he just doesn’t understand why you’d jeopardize your relationship with your father for us. He’s not used to anyone helping him, it’s just been the two of us for so long and I don’t think he knows how to accept help from anyone who isn’t me.”

“He saved my life,” Stiles shrugged, “it’s the least I could do.”

“It’s more than that and you know it,” Laura smiled, “you made a whole plan, concocted several believable backstories and had about three backup plans in case your dad didn’t believe what you were saying. That goes a little bit farther than just trying to pay Derek back for saving your life.”

“It’s just…” Stiles trailed off, taking a moment to collect his thoughts so he could say this in a way that didn’t completely embarrass him, “Before I met you and Derek I was lonely, I know it sounds pathetic but it’s true. I don’t really have any friends. I mean, Scott is my best friend, he’s my brother, but I feel like I’ve been losing him a bit too lately. He’s not terrible at lacrosse, asthma aside, and he’s starting to get his own group of friends and then there’s Allison, I know the second they both get their shit together that they’re going to be inseparable and I don’t really know where that would leave me.”

Laura leaned into him, pressing her shoulder against his, “Keep going, I promise you that I’m not judging you.”

“It all sounds so petty when I say it out loud,” Stiles sighed, “There are plenty of people in the world who have it worse than me but it doesn’t change the fact that I feel like an outsider 99% of the time. I’m loud, I talk too much without really saying anything, but I’d gotten used to it.”

“Then I just happen to meet you and Derek and you both talked to me, you listened to what I was saying, and people don’t usually do that. Even if Derek was a dick at first, he still listened and made an effort. Hell, he sat with me and made sure I didn’t have a concussion when most people would have just made sure I made it to the nurse without passing out and then left me. I just…I just feel like you two get me, you know?”

Laura wrapped her hand around Stiles’ shoulder and pulled him in closer, “I get it, it’s not weird. Trust me, growing up in a family full of werewolves you get used to forming bonds with people incredibly quickly. I sensed something in you that night at the station, I could feel your sadness and you were practically screaming out for someone to hear you. I wasn’t going to say anything because I was planning on getting out of town as fast as possible but then you sat down in front of me and just started talking, it was the strangest thing but it just clicked. I thought that even if I was going to be leaving town I could at least find some way to let you know that there was a whole world outside of Beacon Hills, that you could go out and make yourself something else, find people who understood you, who got your wickedly awesome sense of humor. I don’t know if it was a wolf thing or a Laura thing but it was something I just felt like I needed to do.”

Stiles smiled, “You’re pretty awesome, you know that?”

Laura grinned, “I’ve been told that a few times.”

“I’m glad you’re staying for a while,” Stiles said, “it’s totally selfish because I know you hate this place, but it’s nice to have someone here.”

Laura shrugged, “It’s not all bad, killer werewolves aside.”

Stiles laughed and looked back out towards the woods. There was still no

sign of Derek or Scott but Derek’s shirt still hung from the low tree branch.

“Derek will come around,” Laura said a few seconds later, “he’s mostly just grumpy because he insisted on staying up all last night to make sure you didn’t get killed instead of sleeping. The only time he slept was when I hit him over the head with a rock and knocked him out for an hour.”

Stiles laughed, “He told me you were taking turns.”

Laura rolled her eyes, “That was the plan but when it came time for me to take over he just growled at me and told me to go back to sleep.”

Stiles cocked his head to the side. It was just another thing to add to the list of things about Derek that confused him and Stiles was beginning to go a little bit crazy trying to figure out this weird game of hot and cold Derek seemed to have going on.

Stiles couldn’t take anymore Derek talk, it was something he’d have to sort out on his own and without the help of Derek’s own sister.

“You know,” Laura said abruptly, “I think there are other people are your school who feel the same way that you do?”

Stiles was grateful for the subject change, “What do you mean?”

“When I was at the school the other day I could just feel it, the overwhelming rush of teenage hormones, the feeling of wanting to belong and not being able to find where you fit. Maybe if you look around you’ll find people who are more like you.”

“I have Scott,” Stiles said almost automatically.

“So?” Laura smiled, “You don’t have to limit yourself to Scott, you’re allowed to have other friends. You said yourself that Scott was beginning to branch out so why can’t you do the same?”

“Because I don’t like the people Scott is branching towards,” Stiles scrunched his face up, “that doesn’t even make sense.”

Laura laughed, “Then go in the opposite direction, find people who don’t have anyone else either.”

Stiles leaned back on the swing and through about it, he thought about his weird and budding friendship with Lydia, thought about the kids he saw in the hallways every day who seemed to keep to themselves, “So you’re saying you want me to start a Beacon Hills branch of the Losers club?”

“You’re not a loser,” Laura said automatically, “and I’m not telling you to form a group of teenagers to fight an evil interdimensional clown monster but it couldn’t hurt to find a group of people you can connect with and be with when Scott isn’t around. What’s the harm in trying?”

Stiles laughed, “The overwhelming fear of rejection?”

Laura sighed, put upon, “Fine, what if I give you a lead?”

Stiles quirked an eyebrow, “Why do I feel like I’m playing a part in some evil plan?”

“Yes Stiles,” Laura deadpanned, “you’ve caught me, I’m trying to get teenagers to be friends so I can harness their power and take over the world.”

“Sounds plausible.” Stiles shrugged.

“You’re infuriating,” Laura huffed, “I just want to be sure that you won’t be alone when Derek and I aren’t around as much. Or when Derek and I can’t be around because your father is chasing us off with shotguns.”

Laura wanted to make sure he had friends? It sounded noble, if not a little odd, as far as good deeds went.

“Alright Oprah, tell me who you think I should make my friend?”

“I’d make an awesome Oprah,” Laura grinned, “there was a girl I met at the school, her name was Erica and she had a seizure in front of me.”

“Erica Reyes,” Stiles nodded, “everyone knows about Erica after what happened last year.”

Laura leaned forward, “What do you mean?”

“She had a seizure in the library and some asshole recorded it and put it online,” Stiles shook his head, “then they somehow got into the A/V office at school and cut off the morning announcements to play it on a loop for the entire school to see.”

“Jesus Christ,” Laura growled, her eyes flashing red, “what the fuck is wrong with people?”

Stiles frowned, “Her parents pulled her out of school for the rest of the year after that, last I’d heard she was being homeschooled. I had no idea she was back at school.”

“She’s there,” Laura said, “and she really seemed like she needed someone. I’m not telling you to force it if it’s awkward and you two honestly don’t get along but you’re a good person and I think it would do you a lot of good to make new friends.”

“Is this an Alpha order thing?” Stiles laughed, “Am I being commanded to build friendships?”

Laura hummed thoughtfully, “Sure, let’s go with that.”

 

X

 

“Another lap.” Derek said, leaning against the tree with his arms crossed over his chest.

Scott looked up from his position where he was sprawled out on the ground, heaving in gulps of air, “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Derek deadpanned, “you need to burn off as much energy as you can and this will teach you to learn the limits to your abilities.”

“Dude!” Scott cried, “I think I’ve already hit my limit!”

“Stop calling me dude,” Derek shook his head, “you can push yourself further, you’re still thinking like a human and you’re reacting to your body like a human would.”

“I don’t want to run!” Scott groaned, “I want to sleep forever.”

Derek sighed, running a hand through his damp hair, “The later it gets the more energy you’ll have, you’ll start to feel the call of the moon and you’ll want to run, bite, and claw into anything you can get your hands on. If you exhaust yourself now then it won’t be as intense. The first full moon is the hardest, Scott. I’m just trying to help you.”

“I know,” Scott said as he tried to push himself up from the ground, “I appreciate it, I really do, it’s just that my legs feel like they’re about to fall off.”

“They’ll feel better once you start moving,” Derek walked to Scott and offered him a hand, “either you start running or I’m going to pick you up and throw you into a tree.”

Scott rolled his eyes, “Dude, that’s the weakest threat ever.”

Derek tilted his head towards the sky and said a silent prayer before reaching down and grabbing Scott by the neck of his shirt. Scott flailed as Derek hefted him over his shoulders, his yelp of surprise coming out as more of a snarl. Derek smiled to himself, Scott’s aggression was taking over and they were far enough away from Stiles that he could safely egg Scott on and tire him out this way.

Scott’s claws scraped against Derek’s arms are he threw Scott through the air, wincing when Scott’s side collided with the trunk of a particularly thick tree.

Derek watched in amusement as Scott rolled back and forth in pain for a moment before his healing kicked in. A second Later Scott was on his feet, crouched and ready to attack with his eyes shining gold.

“What the fuck?” Scott snarled, flexing his newly grown claws.

Derek shrugged, “I told you not to call me dude.”

Scott slammed his fist against a smaller tree, splintering the bark, “I was being nice to you for Stiles’ sake but you’re kind of a fucking dick!”   

Derek raised a single eyebrow. Why the hell would Scott try to be nice to Derek just for Stiles?

“I don’t care about your feelings right now,” Derek said, “I care about making sure you don’t escape and maul your mother or Stiles tonight.”

“I would never hurt them!” Scott growled.

“You wouldn’t,” Derek said, “but when the wolf takes over it instinctively seeks out people you’re close to and you don’t know how they will react. Why if your mother doesn’t realize it’s you? What if you scared her so much she tried to attack you? You run on pure instinct for your first full moon and no matter who it was that attacked you, you’d fight back.”

Scott, apparently, decided he’d done enough listening and charged towards Derek with a rumbling growl. Scott was fast but he was also sloppy, he was no match for Derek.

Derek easily stepped out of the way, causing Scott to go tumbling into another tree. Derek sighed as Scott launched himself forward again, this time swiping at Derek with his claws. Derek dodged back and forth, grabbing Scott by the arm to twist him around and shove him into another tree.

Derek was maybe having a little too much fun with this.

“Asshole!” Scott yelled, “You’re such a dick!”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion of me,” Derek said as he dodged another one of Scott’s swipes.

“You ungrateful dick!” Scott yelled again, this time managing to tackle Derek to the ground, “Stiles saved your ass today and the first thing you did when you saw him was act like a fucking douche!”

Derek froze, stunned into silence by Scott’s words. He didn’t even notice that Scott had drawn back his fist until it was too late and it had already collided with his nose. Derek let out a loud growl as he felt his nose break and blood began to pour down into his mouth.

He pushed Scott off with his legs, sending him tumbling through the dirt, and jumped up. He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes to concentrate as his nose formed itself back into place. When Derek opened his eyes, he found Scott sitting on the ground with his back resting against a tree. Scott’s shirt was torn and covered in blood and he was cradling his head in his hands. Derek could smell the shame that was pouring out of Scott.

Scott looked up as Derek walked closer, his eyes were wet and Derek could see the tracks of tears on his face, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Derek said as he offered Scott another hand up off the ground, “like I said, aggression.”

“I’ve never felt that mad,” Scott said as he stood, “I just wanted to _hurt_ you.”

“That’s normally how it goes, one emotion gets magnified repeatedly until it’s the only thing you can feel. If you had an anchor you would have been able to control it.”

“I was so mad at you,” Scott said, “because you were a dick to Stiles and then I just wanted you to pay for it…it made me happy when I broke your nose. What the fuck?”

Derek stilled again, if Scott was this mad about how Derek had treated Stiles then Derek couldn’t imagine how Stiles felt.

Derek shook his head, now wasn’t the time to think about that, “Make it up to me by taking another lap.”

Scott groaned, “Only if you run with me.”

Derek looked at Scott and rolled his eyes, waiting another second before shifting and taking off through the trees. He laughed to himself as he heard an indignant Scott yelling about Derek being a cheater. Scott caught up a few moments later and they ran for another hour, silently letting the experience and the previous fight bond them together as pack members.

It had been too long since Derek had run with anyone other than Laura. He’d forgotten how easy it was to let the world drift away, to forget your problems and troubles and just let yourself get lost in the sounds and smells of the woods. Derek looked over and saw Scott smile as he punched along the pathway, weaving in and out of trees and jumping over fallen and rotted logs.

Laura and Stiles’ scents began to filter through the air and Derek realized that he’d subconsciously been leading himself and Scott back towards the rest of their small pack.

“We should head back,” Derek said, “we’ve been running for close to two hours, you should have worked off enough energy for tonight.”

“OK.” Scott said, falling into step beside Derek, “Are you going to tell Laura I broke your nose?”

Derek laughed, “Yes, but not because I’m mad. She needs to know these things so she can gauge your progress.”

“Is _she_ going to be mad?”

Derek shrugged, “She’ll probably tell you I had it coming.”

Scott tripped Derek and took off running back towards the house with a laugh.

 

X

 

“Broken nose, huh?” Stiles grinned as he walked up behind Derek.

Derek didn’t startle, because werewolf hearing.

Derek turned and Stiles fought off another smile as he took in the sight of a sweaty, disheveled, and slightly bloody Derek. Stiles was past being surprised about what he finds hot at this point.

“Laura talking to Scott?” Derek asked as he turned the garden hose on and began to drink from it.

Stiles’ eyes went wide as he watched Derek’s tongue lap at the stream of water and he came close to a heart attack when Derek turned the house on himself to clean off. Stiles trailed stray water droplets as they traveled down Derek’s body, some running red with the dried blood.

“Yeah,” Stiles coughed awkwardly, “though I’m sure you could already hear that.”

“Wasn’t listening.” Derek said.

Stiles hoped Derek also wasn’t smelling things either. He still wasn’t entirely sure how the whole enhanced sense of smell thing worked but Stiles was positive he was giving off strong notes of ‘ _I want to lick that water off your body very badly’_.

“Oh,” Stiles said, turning his back on Derek, “she just told him that she understands the urge to break your nose but that he shouldn’t actually do it unless you really deserve it.”

The sound from the hose stopped so Stiles figured it was safe to turn around. Derek was drying himself off with a towel he’d grabbed from Stiles’ bathroom.

“Scott said I deserved it because I was a dick to you.” Derek said as he scrubbed his hair.

Stiles let out a surprised laugh, “I’ll be right back, I need to go give him a high-five.”

Derek balled the towel up and threw it at Stiles. Stiles totally didn’t let out a manly yelp.

“I’m sorry,” Derek said after he pulled his shirt back on, “I’m not used to trusting people who aren’t Laura. I’m not used to letting someone help me.”

“I get it,” Stiles said, “I mean, I talked to Laura so I understand. I’m not mad, I wasn’t really mad in the first place. Just annoyed. And confused. But you’ve annoyed and confused me from the literal second I met you so there’s nothing really new about that.”

“The idea of you and my sister talking terrifies me more and more every day.” Derek shuddered.

“Derek!” Laura called from behind them, “We’re leaving, the Sheriff just turned down the street.”

“Dammit,” Stiles muttered, “what are you going to do about Scott?”

Laura came to a stop just in front of the tree line, “We’ve still got a couple hours before sun down. Scott, you said your mom is at work?”

“Yeah,” Scott nodded, “she should be leaving any minute now.”

“Good,” Laura said, “go home. I’ll be by to get you in less than an hour. I still have a few more things that I need to get for tonight.”

“What about me?” Stiles asked.

There was no way in hell he was being left out of Scott’s first full moon.

“We need to see what your dad is going to do first,” Laura said, “if you’re grounded then we’ll figure something out. It might be for the best, Scott is going to be dangerous tonight.”

“Should we be worried about the other wolf?” Scott asked, “I don’t want Stiles to be alone.”

Stiles smiled. It was weirdly endearing.

“I’ll stay,” Derek offered, “I’ll hang back in the woods while Laura finishes getting ready for tonight and we’ll go from there.”

“Your dad is in the driveway.” Laura said, “Go. I’ll talk to you later.”

Stiles watched as Derek and Laura both disappeared into the woods.

Stiles and Scott made it back inside the house just as the Sheriff was stepping through the front door.

“Scott,” the Sheriff said, “nice to see you.”

“Hi, Sheriff,” Scott said awkwardly, “how was your day?”

The Sheriff leveled Scott with a look, “I’m sure Stiles has already told you everything.”

“Dad,” Stiles rolled his eyes, “you know I know better than to talk about official police business with Scott.”

The Sheriff closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, “Scott, are you staying for dinner?”

“No,” Scott shook his head, “I was actually wondering if Stiles could stay the night at my house?”

“Isn’t your mom working tonight?”

Scott shrugged, “Yeah, but it would just be me and Stiles. I promised him I’d make up for canceling last night.”

Stiles blinked, when did Scott become such a good liar?

The Sheriff took off his belt and draped it over the closest chair, “I still haven’t decided what Stiles’ punishment is going to be for going against what I said last night.”

“Hey!” Stiles yelped, “I saved an innocent man from going to prison today, I think I deserve some leniency.”

“A feat which you could only accomplish by doing what I expressly told you not to do,” The Sheriff said, frustration radiating from him, “not only did you disobey me by going into the Preserve, you spent the night running around with adults who I don’t particularly trust, who I’ve literally arrested multiple times!”

Scott shifted awkwardly, “I’m gonna go, dude. Call me and let me know if you’re allowed to come over?”

Stiles nodded.

Scott turned to face the Sheriff, “Please don’t be mad at Stiles. It was my fault, if I hadn’t blown him off then we would have just sat around here all night and done nothing. I was the one who was wrong so please don’t take it out on him.”

The Sheriff scrubbed his hand across his face, “I appreciate the sentiment, Scott, but Stiles won’t be joining you tonight. I’d like to know exactly where my son is for at least one night. Maybe next weekend.”

Scott looked pained, “Alright. I’ll…I’ll text you later.”

“Dad!” Stiles shouted, “Seriously?”

“Not now, Stiles,” The Sheriff sighed, “I’m tired and I’ve been working all day to clean up this whole mess. Just please, for once, listen to what I say without arguing.”

“I’m walking Scott out.” Stiles said as he grabbed Scott by the elbow and led him outside.

“Damn,” Scott said as the door closed, “I really wanted you to be there tonight.”

“I’m sneaking out.” Stiles said, “I don’t care, he’s going to go to sleep early tonight and I’ll just crawl out the window.”

“Stiles,” Scott said, “do you really think that’s the best idea?”

“What else am I supposed to do?” Stiles threw his head back, “I can’t let you go through tonight alone!”

“Your relationship with your dad is more important,” Scott insisted, “think of what he would do if he got up in the middle of the night and found out you were gone? He’d probably board up your window and borrow a house arrest anklet.”

“Fuck,” Stiles sighed, he hated when Scott used logic, “fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“It’ll be fine,” Scott smiled, dropping a hand on Stiles’ shoulder, “I’ll have Laura there, she’ll make sure nothing bad happens. I’m actually a little glad you won’t be there, I’m not sure I trust myself to not hurt you if something went wrong.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Dude, you’d never hurt me.”

Scott frowned, “I didn’t think I’d ever break anyone’s nose but I did that a few hours ago. Maybe it’s a sign that you should be there, at least for the first one. Derek said it’s the worst one, that I’ll just be running on pure animal instinct.”

Stiles kicked at a stray pebble in the road, “Fuck. Maybe you’re right.”

“It happens sometimes,” Scot grinned, “it’ll be fine. Pick me up for School tomorrow?”

“Will you even be able to go to school tomorrow?” Stiles asked.

“Oh,” Scott frowned, “I didn’t even think of that.”

Stiles sighed, “We’ll figure it out.”

“We will.” Scott nodded, “This is probably really weird but I have this like…urge to hug you and rub my face all over you. Is that cool?”

Stiles laughed and opened his arms, “Rub away, buddy. I hear my hair is pleasant to the touch.”

“Asshole,” Scott rolled his eyes before pulling Stiles into a crushing hug and nuzzling him nose in Stiles’ neck.

Stiles groaned, pushing Scott away, “God, I hope my dad didn’t see that.”

“He didn’t,” Scott said as he started down the street, “he’s upstairs changing right now.”

“Gross, dude!” Stiles gagged, “Don’t ever listen to my dad changing again!”

Scott flicked him off and kept walking.

Stiles flailed wildly but gave up when he realized that Scott couldn’t see him. He scuffed his feet against the pavement before turning on his heel and heading back inside the house. Stiles could hear his dad kicking around upstairs as he walked into the kitchen and saw a stack of files sitting on the table.

Stiles, naturally, decided to snoop.

He fumbled through the files, taking great care to leave them in the same order he found them, and froze when he came to the file labeled Adrian Harris. He hovered his hand over the outside of the folder and turned his head towards the stairs to check for his dad. The folder would almost certainly contain the name of the woman who accused Derek of Mr. Harris’ murder, it would give them an edge and Stiles should be able to figure out if it was a genuine case of mistaken identity or something more.

Just as Stiles was about to flip the file open he heard the creak on the top step of the stairs. He quickly pushed the folder closed, placed it back where it was in the stack, and ran to the sink to start getting something ready for dinner.

The Sheriff came around the corner and laughed, “You’re actually cooking? I thought you’d protest.”

Stiles rolled his eyes before looking over his shoulder, “If I didn’t cook you’d order the greasiest burger imaginable. At least this way I get to torture you with a mixed greens salad while you’re torturing me with grounding.”

The Sheriff sighed, “You’re not grounded, Stiles. I just want you home tonight, it’s been a crazy last few days and I just wanted to spend the evening with my son since I got one of the deputies to cover my shift tonight.”

Stiles’ resolved cracked and he turned around with a smile and swallowed his dad into a hug, “Alright, fine. You’re right. We haven’t gotten to spend much time together.”

The Sheriff laughed and pushed Stiles back by the shoulders, locking their eyes together, “Did you just tell me I was right about something?”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Savor this moment because it won’t happen again.”

The Sheriff rolled his eyes and ruffled Stiles’ hair before pushing him away, “At least put some bacon in my salad.”

“Never!” Stiles glared, “I’m going to turn the oven on to preheat and then run upstairs and take a shower. Don’t eat anything terrible while I’m gone.”

“Yeah, yeah,” The Sheriff waved him off.

Stiles smiled and paused before he left the kitchen, “Hey dad?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

The Sheriff smiled, “I love you too, kid.”

Stiles left the kitchen with a smile on his face, content in knowing that his effort to save Derek didn’t destroy his relationship with his father. He knew, at least deep down, that his father would be proud of him for speaking up even when knowing it had the potential to get himself in trouble.

Stiles vaulted his way up the stairs, taking two steps at a time and somehow managing to not fall and break his neck. He rounded the corner at the top of the stairs and opened the door to his room and froze.

The last thing Stiles expected to see when he opened his door was Derek Hale reclining on his bed and reading his school copy of _Their Eyes Were Watching God_.  

“Dude!” Stiles whisper screamed, “What the actual fuck?”

Derek looked up from the book with a blank face, “Your window was open.”

Stiles flailed his arms above his head, “And you took that as a blanket invitation? What if I had been my dad?”

Stiles didn’t stop to examine the fact that he wasn’t angry about the fact that Derek was in his room, in his _bed_ , but that he was worried about what would have happened if someone else had come through the door.

“I knew it was you, if it was your dad I would have crawled back out the window.” Derek said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Stiles sputtered, “Why are you even in here?”

Derek shrugged, “I got tired of sitting in a tree.”

“And you thought you’d just come roll around in my bed instead?”

Derek at least had the grace to look slightly ashamed, “I can leave if you want? I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“I don’t.” Stiles said, “Mind. I mean. You can stay but like, a heads up would have been cool. What if I decided to shower before coming in here and I walked in naked?”

Derek blushed, actually and honestly blushed, “I’m glad you made up with your dad.”

Stiles glared at the subject change because only Derek would progress a conversation from the idea of Stiles being naked to Stiles having a heart to heart with his father.

“Shouldn’t you be with Laura and Scott?” Stiles asked, deflecting.

Derek shook his head, “Laura can handle Scott, it’s better for a bitten wolf just to be with their Alpha for their first full moon. If I was there Scott could see it as a challenge and it would make him even harder to control. It might have been fine if you were there to remind him of his human side but three werewolves in an enclosed space is just asking for trouble.”

“Right,” Stiles said as he awkwardly crossed the room to pull out a set of pajamas from his drawer, “Well, I’m going to go shower. And change. In the bathroom. And then make dinner.”

“Ok,” Derek said, “bring me a plate.”

Stiles blinked, nodding dumbly, and then retreated down the hall to the bathroom.

It was another moment to add to the list of things that confused him about Derek and Stiles started to think that Derek was the walking embodiment of that stupid Katy Perry song.

 

X

 

Laura ambled down the aisle of the grocery store, aimlessly pushing her cart as she tried to remember things that her mother bought to give to newly bitten wolves after their first full moon. She knew she needed to get protein and carbs, things for Scott to eat quickly to give him enough energy to make it to his bed in the morning. She was lost in the ingredients label of a pack of breakfast bars when she heard a voice she never thought she’d hear again.

“I heard you were back in town,” Chris Argents smooth voice drifted from the end of the aisle. No regular person would have been able to hear him, but Laura wasn’t a regular person and Chris knew that all too well. He was giving her time to react, to see what she would do.

Laura barely resisted the urge to let her claws come out and sat the box of breakfast bars in her cart as gently as possible, “I smelled you when I got into town.”

“Oh?” Chris said, sliding his cart up right next to Laura’s.

“The smell of murder takes a long time to go away,” Laura said, “especially when someone is as practiced at it as you are.”

Chris grinned, the asshole, “Speaking of murder, I heard an interesting thing about your brother.”

Laura didn’t stop herself as she let her eyes flash red, “You better think very carefully about what you say next.”

Chris was undeterred, “I got a few calls from interested parties asking about an update on the situation.”

Laura smiled, false cheer and satisfaction, “You’ll be happy to know that the charges were dropped then. Derek had an alibi and everything.”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take the word of an Alpha who’s trying to protect her Beta. The Sheriff may buy something like that but you and I both know I’m not that stupid.”

“Then you’ll be happy to know that Derek’s alibi didn’t come from me,” Laura said, reveling in the look of shock that ever so briefly crossed Chris’ face, “someone else saw Derek when the murder happened, the Sheriff verified it and everything. Derek had nothing to do with what happened and you’d do well to spread the word on that.”

Chris collected himself quickly, “And who was it that saw Derek? Do you have any other pack members I should know about?”

Laura didn’t let Chris get under her skin, there was no way she was giving up any hint about Scott or Stiles, “It’s an ongoing investigation, you’d have to take that question up with the Sheriff but he’s a surprisingly smart man and he may start to wonder why you of all people are looking into it.”

Laura continued on as Chris glared, “Hell, he may even decide to look into your past, maybe your entire family. We both know there’s enough skeletons buried in the Argent backyard so don’t push me Chris because I will push back and I won’t even need my claws to do it.”

Chris’ reply was cut off by a girl’s voice, “Dad? I can’t remember what type of pasta that mom said to get for dinner.”

Laura looked down the aisle to find a girl with long, curly dark hair weighing two boxes of pasta between her hands. She looked up and caught Laura’s eyes and smiled, “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were talking to someone.”

Chris coughed into his hand, “It’s fine. Allison, this is Laura. Laura Hale.”

Allison smiled and Laura stuck out her hand just because she knew it would piss Chris off, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Allison shook Laura’s hand awkwardly, “Yeah. I’m sorry, this is awkward, I have no idea who you are.”

Laura laughed, “It’s fine, your dad and I are old friends and I’ve been out of town for a while. We were just catching up.”

“Yes,” Chris said, “I was just telling Laura how sad it was that she would be leaving town so soon after just getting back.”

Laura hummed thoughtfully as she turned her cart around, “You know, I was actually thinking of sticking around for a while. I forgot how much I missed _my_ home.”

Laura walked away from Chris without turning back, she didn’t need to look over her shoulder to tell that Chris Argent was seething with anger.

 

X

 

“Uh, why are we at the vet’s office?” Scott asked as Laura pulled the car into the parking lot of Deaton’s practice.

Scott was dressed in sweats and a ratty shirt. Laura was impressed that he listened to her when she told him to dress comfortably in a pair of clothes that he didn’t care were probably going to get destroyed. She was a bit confused about why he was looking at Deaton’s with something between fascination and terror though.

“Doctor Deaton is an old family friend,” Laura said, “he owes me a few favors and since this was so short notice he said we could use his facilities for the night.”

“He knows about this stuff?” Scott’s eyes went wide.

Laura laughed, she supposed it might be a bit odd for Scott that the town vet knew about werewolves, “He was an advisor to my mom for decades, he knows a lot about this stuff.”

Scott’s scent spiked with anxiety, “Did you tell him about me?”

Laura shook her head, confused, “I told him I had a new Beta that needed a safe place for the night but not who you were.”

“OK,” Scott said awkwardly as he fumbled his way out of the car.

Laura watched him as they walked, confused at the way that Scott drew into himself the closer they got to the front door. Was Scott worried that Deaton would tell someone?

Laura pushed the door open, walking in front of Scott, and Deaton turned when the bell above the door rang out.

“Laura,” Deaton calmly smiled, “right on time.”

“Deaton,” Laura said, “it’s nice to see you. It’s been too long.”

“Entirely,” Deaton said, “is your Beta not with you?”

Laura looked to her left and saw that Scott was gone. She turned around and found Scott trying to huddle behind her to stay hidden.

“Seriously?” Laura raised an eyebrow, “What is your drama, Scott?”

Laura stepped out of the way so Deaton could see Scott. Scott winced as Deaton’s eyes fell on him and went impossibly wide. It was the first time that Laura had seen Deaton’s face in any other state but calmly collected.

“Hey boss,” Scott’s voice came out in a high-pitched squeak.

“Boss?” Laura spun on her heel to face Scott.

“Laura,” Deaton said, “you neglected to tell me that you bit my only employee.”

Laura’s jaw dropped, “ _What_? You work for Deaton?”

Scott nodded, “He was the only person who would hire me.”

Laura clapped both hands to her face and barely contained the urge to claw her own skin off.

“Would anyone care to explain to me how Scott became your Beta?” Deaton asked, his arms crossed as he rested against the counter.

“She saved my life!” Scott spoke up, louder than Laura had heard him before.

Deaton raised an eyebrow and motioned for someone to continue.

“Derek and I were in the woods,” Laura said, “we were tracking something. Another wolf. The wolf found us and then ended up near Scott. The panic caused him to have an asthma attack, his inhaler wasn’t working so I explained what I was, told him about the Bite, the dangers and everything associated with it, and he accepted it. I know it’s…unorthodox but I couldn’t just let a kid die while I sat by and did nothing.”

Deaton was silent for a moment, his eyes dancing between Scott and Laura, before he finally nodded, “Your mother would have done the same thing, she would be proud of you.”

Laura took a step back. That was…not the reaction she was expecting.

“I was totally prepared to have to defend my decision more than that.” Laura admitted.

Deaton shook his head, “It’s not an idea situation but what’s done is done. I hope you’re at least planning on staying in town to help Scott learn to control himself.”

Laura nodded, “I’m here for as long as it takes. We’ll work on getting somewhere else for the next full moon but it was so last minute that you were all I could think of.”

“You’re welcome to use my facilities any time you need them,” Deaton said as he waved them into the back of the office.

“You’re not putting me in a kennel, are you?” Scott balked.

Deaton looked at Scott like he’d grown a second head.

Laura bit back her laugh as she followed Deaton to the end of a long hallway and came to a stop in front of a red door. He pulled out a special key that was on a thick black rope and unlocked it, pushing it open with a groan.

A gust of air tumbled through the office as the musty, neglected scent of the room rushed through the open door. Deaton led them through, turning on a light to reveal a staircase that led to a lower level. Scott looked on in a mixture of fascination and horror as they descended the steps and found themselves in a wide open room. The walls were lined with maps and charts, dozens of bookcases sat end to end across another back wall and were filled to the brim with old looking books. A large table sat in the middle of the room and was covered in various herbs that Laura recognized as components for potions.

“The wolfsbane is locked in a separate room,” Deaton said when he saw Laura eyeing the herbs.

Laura nodded. The last wall she saw was what they were there for. Heavy iron chains were bolted into the stone wall and the concrete floor. There were claw marks across the floor and crisscrossing over the wall behind it.

“That’s for me?” Scott’s eyes were wide with horror.

“I told you there would be chains involved.” Laura said.

“You didn’t tell me it would be in a Game of Thrones torture chamber!”

“No one has been tortured in here, Scott.” Deaton sighed.

“Did you get the mountain ash?” Laura asked.

Deaton nodded before pulling out an industrial sized glass jar filled with the coarse black powder.

“What’s that?” Scott asked.

“Mountain Ash,” Deaton said, “it comes from the Rowan tree.”

“What does it do?” Scott asked. 

“Rowan has a special history,” Deaton said, “it’s widely used in druidic magic and, when ground into a powder, has the ability to form barriers that contain or repel supernatural creatures.”

“What does that even mean?” Scott asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

Laura shrugged, “You might as well show him.”

“Very well.” Deaton took the top from the jar and pulled out a handful of the ash. He tossed it into the air and Laura watched as it swirled like a small tornado before falling to the ground and forming a perfect circle around Scott.

“Woah,” Scott said, “that was cool.”

“Try to step out of the ring.” Deaton said.

Scott tried to step over the line and was knocked onto his back.

“What the hell?” Scott yelped, “What just happened?”

“As I said, it forms a barrier that either contains supernatural creatures or keeps them out depending on the intent of the caster.”

Deaton shared a look with Laura, a somber sadness crossing over his face. Laura swallowed and shook her head, now wasn’t the time to think of her family, trapped in a burning home by mountain ash. She had to focus on Scott.

“The barrier can only be broken by a human,” Laura said, walking to Scott and demonstrating that she couldn’t get across the circle to reach him either, “it’s very common for humans with the knowledge of the supernatural world to use this to protect themselves.”

She didn’t add that it was sometimes used as a weapon as well.

“The sun will be setting soon,” Deaton said, “we should get Scott into position.”

Deaton swiped his foot across the circle just as Scott was leaning against the invisible wall and he tumbled across the floor as the barrier broke.

“Ouch,” Scott said as he rubbed his head, “Do I still need to be chained if you’re just going to put this magical wall thing around me?”

“Laura and I think it’s best to chain you as well, I’m sorry to say.”

Laura spoke up before Scott could protest, “I need to see how well you do with control, how you react to being restrained. I also want to see how strong you are, if the chains will hold you. The ash will be there only as a last resort.”

“I will be here all night in case there’s an emergency and the circle needs to be broken but otherwise I will leave you to Laura’s care.”

Scott decided to go with it instead of fighting the idea of the chains. Laura hoped that it was a sign of things to come with the full moon but even she wasn’t that naive. They chained Scott to the wall, made sure he was comfortable, and Deaton spread the ash around Scott in a wide circle just as the moon began to rise.

Scott’s eyes were already beginning to glow yellow when Deaton pulled Laura to the side.

“You said there was another wolf in the preserve?” Deaton asked, “An Omega?”

Laura shook her head, “No, it was something I’d never seen before. I thought…that maybe it was Peter but even if it was him I don’t see how it could even be possible.”

“You think it was Peter?” Deaton looked skeptical, “What did the wolf look like?”

“It was like an Alpha shift, large, furry, strong as fuck,” Laura said, “but it was walking on two legs. It looked like a shitty fantasy book drawing come to life. Its eyes were pure black, no trace of color in them at all.”

Deaton’s eyes went wide and he looked a little startled. It was as if he knew exactly what Laura was talking about.

“Do you know what it was?” Laura asked.

“I…” Deaton trailed off, “it’s too soon to say for sure. I need to look at some things, I have a few books that discuss different werewolf lore through the years but I want to be positive before I tell you anything.”

“You’re freaking me out,” Laura said honestly, “you look rattled. I’ve never seen you rattled.”

Deaton laughed, “I’m sorry. I don’t want to worry you before I know for sure. Give me a few hours to find what I’m looking for, if it is what I think you’re describing then we will need to discuss it immediately.”

Laura was torn from her conversation with Deaton by a savage growl from Scott. She looked over her shoulder and found Scott, fully Beta shifted, pulling at the chains on the wall and snarling.  

She left Deaton on his own to start his research while she walked towards Scott and sat at the edge of the mountain ash barrier.

It was going to be a long night.

 

X

 

Stiles balanced a plate of food on top of the stolen police file as he made his way back up to his room. Once he was confident (aka Derek had told him) that his dad was asleep Stiles rushed downstairs to find the files that his dad left on the counter.

Stiles sat the plate down in front of Derek who was now sitting at Stiles’ desk leafing through copies of his homework, “I was going to put it in a metal dog bowl but we don’t have any.”

“You wouldn’t have any fingers either if you actually did that.” Derek glared.

Stiles rolled his eyes but watched as Derek cut into the lean pork chops and popped them into his mouth. He let out an obscene moan as he chewed and Stiles totally didn’t fall from the bed when he heard it.

“These are really good,” Derek said with his mouth still full of food, “I haven’t had something homecooked in forever.”

“You mean to tell me that you and Laura don’t cook for each other?” Stiles laughed.

“Laura can barely manage to make ramen noodles and I hate cooking. We always order takeout.”

“You’re basically my dad’s goal.” Stiles laughed.

 Derek ignored him and continued to stuff his face. Stiles ignored Derek as he opened the folder and began to leaf through the pages. He paused at the photo from the crime scene and his eyes went wide. No matter how much he hated Harris he wasn’t ready to see the guy almost decapitated and laying in a pool of his own blood.

“Stiles!” Derek growled, “What the hell are you doing?”

Huh?” Stiles looked up, “What?”

Derek got up from the desk and looked over Stiles’ shoulder. He let out another low growl and snatched the papers out of Stiles’ hands, “Why are you looking at that?”

“I wanted to see if the name of the witness who accused you was in there!” Stiles snapped, “I forgot about the rest of the file.”

Derek shook his head, “Give me the folder, I’m taking out all the pictures.”

Stiles nodded and handed the folder to Derek. Derek leafed through the pages and pulled out all the pictures and sat them face down on Stiles’ desk.

“I hope you remembered where those went,” Stiles said as he began to read through the initial report.

Derek watched him like a hawk as he read, skipping pages that detailed the crime scene because it wasn’t what he was interested in.

The second to last page was what Stiles was looking for, it detailed the witnesses report and Stiles cocked his head in confusion as he read.

“This woman says repeatedly that it was you,” Stiles sighed, “your full name and everything, she keeps swearing up and down that she saw Derek Hale go into that apartment. I thought that maybe it would be a case of paranoia or mistaken identity but it’s like she explicitly went into the station to say it was you.”

“What the hell?” Derek said, “Is there a name?”

Stiles absentmindedly thrust the second page at Derek, “Check this one, the name of the witness is usually the last thing they list.”

Stiles kept reading as Derek sat down on the bed beside him. He ignored the way their thighs pressed together as he read the woman’s detailed account of how she heard Derek threaten Harris through the walls and then hard him scream right before he presumably died.

“This is crazy,” Stiles said as he looked up at Derek.

Derek’s face was paler than Stiles had ever seen it. He had a death grip on the page, twisting and crumping the edge of the paper, and his eyes were wide with what looked like shock and fear.

“Derek?” Stiles said softly, “What’s wrong?”

“This can’t be right,” Derek mumbled to himself, “This isn’t true. It can’t be. No. No. No. No.”

Stiles stood and crouched in front of Derek, “Derek? What’s wrong? Talk to me, you’re freaking me out.”

Stiles went to rest his hand on Derek’s knee but Derek’s eyes immediately snapped towards him, glowing that bright electric blue, and Derek whispered, “Don’t touch me.”

Stiles stilled his hand in midair and jerked it back to his chest, he stood and took a few steps backwards to let Derek have breathing room. Derek stood from the bed instantly and crossed to the window, opening it quickly and jumping out of it. Stiles rushed to the window and made it just in time to see Derek disappear into the darkness of the woods.

“What the fuck?” Stiles whispered to himself.

Nothing about what just happened made any sense. Stiles was left staring dumbly into the woods for several minutes in hopes that Derek would come back and explain things but he gave up as soon as he remembered the paper.

It was still intact and sitting on Stiles’ bed so he rushed for it, quickly scooping it off the bed and reading it as fast as he could. It was all standard stuff, the name of the interviewing officer, the time and date, and at the end there was a single bolded line with the name of the witness.

Kate Argent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter got totally out of hand lmao i really didn't mean for it to be almost be 10k but things needed to be set up! 
> 
> props to everyone who guessed that the witness was kate, even though I think it was pretty obvious from the beginning lmao 
> 
> we're about to get into some wild stuff that will throw the entirety of season one canon out of the window so I hope you're excited!


	10. Whole Lotta History

 

 

 

Chapter Ten

Whole Lotta History

 

Derek lost himself as he ran through the woods. His shoes were the first to go, he left them just outside of the Stilinski house’s property line. The cold ground connected with the soles of his feet, stones digging into the soft bottoms and healing before he even took another step. Derek stripped off his shirt next, ignoring the sharp nicks of pain that came from his skin scraping against low hanging branches. Derek kept his jeans on but they were nothing but stained, bloody rags by the time he was gone.

Derek ran for miles, for hours. When he finally came to a stop he realized he wasn’t even in Beacon County anymore. The distance from the place did little to settle him, not when he knew that she was there. Kate had been in Beacon Hills and Derek had no idea. He didn’t trust himself anymore, he didn’t trust that he’d know if Kate was standing right behind him. How could he be so stupid?

The howl that Derek let out was a savage and wild sound, it rang through the night air like a lone bell and echoed off the trees and mountains in the distance. Derek howled for what felt like hours, he screamed and cried at the painful burn of memories that were seared into his brain. He screamed for Kate, at the loss of what he thought was love. He screamed because he hated himself, he hated himself because Kate used him and killed his entire family but a small part of Derek, that anxious and wiry 16-year-old boy, still loved her in some sick and fucked up way.

It took Derek a little while longer to calm down and to start thinking straight. Eventually his running slowed to a jog and then to a staggering walk before he stopped completely and leaned against the trunk of a large tree. He let his claws dig into the wood for only a second before he closed his eyes and thought of Laura, Cora, and their mother all sitting on the front porch of the old house with their dark hair blowing in the wind.

Finally anchored, Derek fell to the ground and sat against the tree. He tipped his head towards the sky and took in the brightness of the full moon. He felt it tug at him for a moment before he closed his eyes and ran a hand through his damp hair.

Derek took a deep breath and thought, really thought about Kate and what she could be after. Why would Kate involve herself in a police investigation? Why would Kate go on record and name him as the killer when she knows he didn’t do it? Hunters never got involved with local law enforcement, it was better for everyone involved if the secrecy of what they did was kept intact. Secrecy was a hunter’s biggest weapon so why would Kate risk it?

Derek let out a bitter laugh, it was Kate after all. When had Kate ever given a damn about the code? It was probably all part of some twisted game, just another way for her to torture Derek before she finally killed him.

Kate always did like the play with her food before she killed it.

And then it hit Derek like a high-speed truck: Kate planned the entire thing.

Derek should have seen it coming, he should have been more distrustful of the letter Laura received. He should have smelled it, examined every inch of it, but he was always blind when it came to Kate. He could never see her coming.

Kate drew Laura back to Beacon Hills, she set her up to have a meeting with Harris knowing that Laura wouldn’t be able to control her anger and would end up getting arrested. Kate must have killed Harris, or paid someone to do it at the very least, and then she accused Derek of the murder.  It was all timed so perfectly that Derek couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it sooner.

Harris was killed just before the full moon. Kate knew that Derek would be arrested and held for 24 hours. Derek would have spent the night, the full moon, in police custody. He was already angry and ready to lash out at the Sheriff during the day when he was being questioned and there was no telling how he would have reacted if he was held overnight. It was what Kate wanted, she wanted him to lose control, to expose himself or to hurt someone.

Derek’s control issues lately had been so fragile that he couldn’t even comfortably lie to himself that he wouldn’t have hurt someone.

Hell, maybe Laura was Kate’s target, an angry Alpha storming a Sheriff’s Station for her Beta would draw every hunter in the tri-state area.

Regardless of her true motivation, Derek knew for a fact that Kate was behind everything. But something was different this time, there was a player that Kate couldn’t account for, someone she would never have been able to see coming.

Stiles.

Stiles ruined Kate’s entire plan. There was no way Kate could have ever expected the Sheriff’s son to become close to Derek and Laura. There was no way for her to know that Stiles would find out that he and Laura were werewolves or that Stiles would give his own father an infallible testimony about Derek’s whereabouts when Harris was murdered.

Stiles ruined Kate’s entire plan and unknowingly put himself in her crosshairs. Derek knew Kate had no qualms about killing a human, especially one that associated with a werewolf pack. He didn’t know how investigations really worked, especially with Stiles being a minor and the Sheriff’s son, but he knew Kate and knew that she could find a way to learn who contradicted her statement.

Derek knew he needed to get to Stiles, and then to Laura. He needed to protect them both, and Scott because there would be hell to pay if the Argent’s found out that Laura turned a teenager. Stiles and Scott needed to know the history of the Hales, they needed to learn about the dangers of Hunters, and they needed to know what could be coming their way.

Derek pushed himself up from the ground and ran back towards Beacon Hills. The moon was just beginning to lower in the sky, he’d be back to Stiles’ by the time his father left and they could go to Deaton’s together to talk to Laura. Scott should be recovered enough by then to listen too.

It was going to be a long morning.      

 

X

 

Stiles hadn’t slept. Every time he tried to close his eyes the only thing he saw was Derek’s pale white face and that terrible look of intense fear in his electric blue eyes. Stiles never thought he’d see Derek look like that.

Derek, with his muscles and eyebrows. Derek, with his claws and teeth. Derek, with his speed and strength. The same Derek he’d seen take a set of claws to his stomach was reduced to such a state of fear by a single name.

Kate Argent.

Kate _Argent_.

It took Stiles approximately five seconds to find Kate Argent through Allison’s Facebook. Kate, in addition to being a practitioner of lying to the police, was Allison’s aunt. Allison’s father, who Stiles has only met once and was completely terrified of, is Kate’s older brother.

Kate’s own profile is surprisingly open, she doesn’t have much in the way of privacy settings so Stiles was able to scroll through a few albums that highlighted Kate’s numerous trips around the world. From Stiles’ count it seemed that Kate had been in seven countries in the last two years alone, not to mention she had photos of herself in every state in America, Alaska included.

There were numerous photos of Kate climbing mountains, surfing, scuba diving, hiking, camping, and even a few of her with some rather large and scary looking guns. There was even a video of Kate beating a Marine at a pushup competition, it was thirteen minutes long and the marine dropped out around the three-minute mark.

In summary, Stiles was more than slightly terrified of Kate Argent.

Stiles went back to Allison’s page and found a comment from Kate that was a week old, Kate was telling Allison that she couldn’t wait to see her in a few days. Stiles cocked his head to the side, Kate had only been back in Beacon Hills for three, maybe four, days and the first thing she does is accuse Derek of murder?

It didn’t make any sense.

Stiles grabbed the file from the bed, he’d spent close to an hour smoothing the paper out after Derek had crumpled it, and reread Kate’s statement. Upon a second read through, Stiles noticed a few moments of hesitation in her words that were transcribed to the page. There was _just_ enough room in her words to allow for a possible mistake. But Stiles read through it again, comparing those small slips with the other parts where she seemed hell bent on making his dad believe it was Derek, and he couldn’t help but feel that they were deliberate. As if Kate had placed a few inconsistencies in her story just in case.

 Kate mentioned that she’d spent the evening catching up with her family after a few months apart, mentioned that her brother made a wicked cocktail that could knock the socks off anyone. She started by saying that the road was dark, but then that she saw Derek’s face illuminated by a streetlight. She mentioned being scared when she heard the sounds of a fight, so scared that she couldn’t concentrate enough to call 911.

There were enough things in the story that if someone really wanted to pick it apart they probably could. It was enough to get Derek arrested though, and maybe that was all that mattered?

Stiles couldn’t think anymore, he closed his laptop and looked at his alarm clock and groaned. It was 5am, on a Monday, and he had to be up for school in less than four hours. Stiles knew his dad would be up in less than half an hour so he threw the file back together, making sure to put the papers and pictures back exactly where they had been, and scurried down to the kitchen to replace it before his dad woke up.

Stiles sat on his bed when he got back to his room, his legs crossed, and stared at the wall. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do with all this information. Derek was still MIA, Laura wasn’t answering her phone, Scott was currently shifted into a killing machine, and there was no way Stiles could explain anything that he'd learned to his dad.

Stiles spent several minutes looking at the wall, desperately hoping that it somehow had the answer that he needed. He was so focused on the wall that he only saw the hand that gripped his windowsill out of his peripheral vision. A second hand quickly joined the first and Stiles only barely managed to contain a sharp yelp as a dark figure pulled itself into his room.

He still fell off the bed though.

The bedside lamp clicked on, thanks to the shadow figure, and it illuminated the room and revealed a very sweaty, bloody, and shirtless Derek.

Stiles’ jaw hit the floor, “What in the ever loving, all imaginable, galaxy spanning, time defying, _actual fuck_?”

Derek at least had the good sense to look guilty, “I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” Stiles balked, “OK, well that fixes everything!”

“Stiles,” Derek said, his voice pained, “I’m…”

Stiles sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face, and looked at Derek. He took in his disheveled hair that had fallen over his forehead, giving him some impressive 2004 Myspace emo bangs, his chest that dripped with a mixture of sweat and what Stiles hoped was his own blood, and his sad eyes.

Stiles frowned and pulled a towel out of his hamper and tossed it at Derek, he decided to have some empathy and let the guy off the hook just this once, “Clean off, you look like you’ve been through a wood chipper.”

Derek caught the towel out of the air and held it in front of his body with a confused look on his face, “I?”

“It’s not going to bite you, dude,” Stiles rolled his eyes, “it might smell a little but I don’t really feel like going to grab a fresh one and risk waking my dad up.”

Derek blinked at the towel before he brought it up to his face and inhaled, which, weird, “It smells good.”

Stiles coughed in surprise and opened his mouth to say something but Derek was already scrubbing his hair with the towel and Stiles decided he was too tired and too confused about life in general to even try and unpack that comment.

Instead, Stiles said, “I researched.”

When Derek looked up his chest and stomach were mostly free of dried blood, “You researched?”

Stiles shrugged, “OK, maybe it was more Facebook stalking and less Giles and Willow in the library.”

Derek still looked lost, “Stiles, what are you talking about?”

“Kate Argent,” Stiles took a deep breath and tried his best to ignore the way Derek flinched at just her name, “I found her. And there’s something important I need to tell you abo-”

Derek dropped the towel and immediately crowded into Stiles’ space, pushing him back against the wall, when Derek spoke his eyes were electric blue and his breath was hot on Stiles’ face, “Stay away from her.”

Stiles blinked, “Derek? Derek, dude, you’re kinda scaring me here.”

It wasn’t that Stiles was afraid that Derek would hurt him, Stiles knew that he wouldn’t. But there was something to be said about the primal, ingrained fear that came with a man who had arms the size of your head pushing you against a wall in any other situation that wasn’t consensual sexy times. Add glowing eyes and sharp teeth to that man and you’ve got a recipe for blanket fear.

Derek’s eyes faded back to their normal human color and he fled to the other end of the room in two quick strides, “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t- “

“I know,” Stiles cut him off, “still, squishy human and big bad wolf just kinda equals automatic fear.”

“I just…” Derek trailed off, he looked frustrated at his inabilities to form actual sentences, “I had a plan, I thought of words.”

“Words?” Stiles repeated.

If Derek wasn’t so obviously terrified of everything at the moment Stiles would find this socially awkward phase endearing.

“I had a plan!” Derek growled, “You. Laura. Scott. I was going to talk, to tell you all. But I can’t…I can’t even hear her name without…”

Stiles was slowly starting to piece some of the information together.

“You know her.” Stiles said, it wasn’t a question.

Derek nodded jerkily.

“And she’s not good people.” Again, a statement.

“Obviously,” Derek huffed out a slightly manic laugh, “good people don’t set you up for murder.”

Stiles hedged his bets, pushing a bit further, “That’s the part I don’t get. Why would she do that? It’s like her statement is perfectly crafted to get you into trouble but there’s also enough inconsistency worked into it that she could get out of it without any legal trouble if it fell apart.”

Derek’s eyes went dark, “It figures she’d be prepared even for that.”

Stiles took a step closer to Derek, he was within arm’s reach now, “I know you don’t want to talk about this, it’s obviously a sore subject but…”

“She killed my entire family,” Derek said, his voice was nonchalant and detached.

Stiles’ jaw hit the floor and he opened his mouth to speak.

Derek stepped forward and pressed the palm of his hand gently against Stiles’ lips, “Your dad just woke up.”

Stiles’ breath was warm against Derek’s hand until he pulled it away. Content that Stiles was going to stay quiet, Derek walked to the bedside table and turned off the lamp, casting the room into darkness again. Stiles numbly walked to his bed and got under the covers, turning to face Derek where he rested against the open window.

“I’ll be outside,” Derek whispered, “I’ll come back when he leaves.”

Stiles nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak, not when there were a million and one questions flying around his head as to why Allison’s _aunt_ killed Derek’s entire family.

Stiles stared at the ceiling and listened to his dad go through his normal morning routine. He heard the shower start, listened as his dad stubbed his toe on the side of the wall in the hall and cursed its existence. Stiles quickly closed his eyes as he heard the door to his room open, pulling the covers up over his shoulders and turning onto his side.

His father walked quietly across the room and came to a stop next to the bed. He slowly lowered himself, sat on the edge of the mattress, and gently ran his hand over the top of Stiles’ hair before whispering, “Love you, kid.”

Stiles resisted the urge to bolt out of the bed and wrap his arms around his dad and hug him tight. He’d caused his dad to worry so much over the past two days and he felt endlessly guilty about it.

He waited until the sound of his father pulling the cruiser out of the driveway faded before he turned on the lamp. When Stiles looked up at his window he found Derek’s face looking inside, his hand pressed flat against the glass.

Stiles looked up at Derek, unimpressed, and settled back into the bed. Derek could find his own way inside, he’d apparently done it before so he could do it again. Derek scowled at Stiles before extending a single clawed finger and sliding it under the bottom of the widow. Derek effortlessly raised the window and silently slipped inside within a few seconds.

“So,” Stiles said, sitting up on the bed and wrapping his comforter around his shoulders like a cape, “do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” Derek said, his voice rough, “but I have to. So you’ll know. How dangerous she is.”

Stiles sighed, “You don’t have to give me any details, what you’ve said is already enough.”

It almost pained Stiles to say it since every instinct of his was buzzing with electricity and the need to find out every detail, to pick and research until he unearthed every aspect of what Derek had just said. But Stiles could take one look at Derek and tell that it would be the wrong course of action, Derek didn’t need someone picking through the graves of his family just so Stiles could satisfy his own curiosity.

“Kate was the one who burned down our house,” Derek said through gritted teeth, “and she had help. Harris drunkenly told her how to do it so there would be no trace of foul play.”

Stiles’ eyes went wide, “Holy shit.”

“There were others,” Derek said, “others who helped her, people who she paid off and people who just wanted to see my kind die.”

“Your kind?” Stiles repeated, “Werewolves?”

“Kate is a hunter,” Derek said softly, “she hunts supernatural creatures, specializes in werewolves. They’re supposed to have a code, only kill those who harm others. But my family never hurt anyone, she killed them just because she wanted to. She didn’t care if there were humans in the pack, or children, she just killed them all and she got off on it. Her entire family does.”

Stiles was given so much information so quickly that he almost didn’t know what to focus on, “Her entire family? What do you mean?”

Derek sighed, “The Argent family is the oldest active hunting family on record. They’re all raised to be lethal fighters, ruthless and bloodthirsty. They’re trained to hunt and kill our kind, and others like us. They haven’t followed the code for a long time.” 

Stiles nearly fell off his bed. He pictured Allison and her dimples, her soft smile, her curly dark hair, and tried to imagine her as some ruthless killer. It couldn’t be true, could it?

“I was trying to tell you something earlier…” Stiles trailed off, he felt himself going numb.

“What?” Derek said, looking a little more put together after his information dump.

“Allison,” Stiles mumbled, “Scott’s Allison, the one he’s one more lost pencil away from asking out on an actual date.”

“Stiles?” Derek asked, dropping down to his eye level.

“Her name is Allison Argent,” Stiles said, looking up to meet Derek’s eyes, “Kate is her aunt.”

 

X

 

It was a little after 5am when Scott finally passed out, Laura realized as she looked at her watch. She’d spent all night on the floor across from him, just on the other side of the mountain ash line. She’d spent the hours talking to him, trying to connect with his human side and find something that he could use as his anchor.

Nothing seemed to work though and Scott spent the entire night a snarling, wild, mess. Scott had shifted almost automatically the second the moon reached its peak and stayed that way until it began to slowly sink in the sky. She was grateful for the mountain ash line that Deaton had put down because Scott exhibited some pretty intense signs of strength for a newly bitten wolf and Laura wasn’t entirely confident that the chains would stay bolted into place.

She made a note to search for some new ones just in case Scott didn’t get himself settled by the next full moon.

Laura did notice how it took longer for Scott to react to things with anger though, how he seemed to move a bit sluggishly in the beginning. It made her smile, Derek had done a good job of wearing Scott out and making her job at night just a bit easier. It made something side her swell, a rush of warmth flooding through her entire body. The feeling of peace that come with a pack.

“I see he finally gave up,” Deaton’s voice came from behind Laura, soft and amused, “he lasted a lot longer than I expected him too.”

Laura smiled, “He’s certainly wilier than I thought he was going to be. Thank god Derek tired him out with a run before we got here, I was starting to think he was going to break through the chains.”

Deaton hummed, “They are old, they haven’t been used in a few decades.”

Laura looked over her shoulder, “When was the last time?”

Deaton’s eyes turned downward, “It was Peter, actually.”

Laura gaped, “Peter? I don’t remember that?”

“You were young,” Deaton said, “I’m not sure if you’d remember, it was the night Joshua was born.”

Laura felt herself go numb, Joshua was Peter’s son, her cousin.

“I don’t.”

“When Joshua was born there were some…complications.” Deaton said, “Mariska was a human, after all.”

Aunt Mariska. Peter’s wife.

“I always remember Aunt Mariska as so much more than human,” Laura laughed, “she never acted like one, it was easy to forget.”

Deaton smiled, “Yes, even with her gifts she was still just a human.”

Laura smiled sadly.

“I don’t remember the specifics, all I know is that Joshua was born the night before a full moon and there was a lot of bleeding on Mariska’s part. Your mother was worried about Peter’s anger during the full moon and they both agreed that it would be safer for Mariska and Joshua if he stayed with me during the full moon.”

Laura ran her hands through her hair. It always took her by surprise when she learned something new about her family, she thought she’d know everything about them but it always seemed like there was something else to learn.

“Mariska and Joshua were fine though, I know that.” Laura said.

“Yes, Mariska pulled through and Peter went back to her side in the morning. Your mother offered her the bite but no one was sure if it would take and Mariska would only accept if it was the very last option.”

Laura laughed, “She was always stubborn, it was why Peter loved her so much.”

Deaton didn’t respond, he only smiled and nodded before turning back to his table and picking up several large books. Laura had almost forgotten that Deaton had spent the last few hours researching what the wolf that attacked them was.

Laura cleared her throat, grateful for a subject change, “Did you find anything?”

Deaton waved her over, “Yes, my suspicions were correct.”

“You found it?” Laura scurried to her feet and ran over to Deaton, dropping into the chair next to him.

“I believe what you encountered was a Rougarou.” Deaton said.

Laura’s eyebrows shot to her hairline, “A who the what now?”

Deaton laughed, “A Rougarou, though it is sometimes referred to as a Loup Garou. Loup being the French word for wolf and garou is what they call a man who turned into an animal. It’s mostly folklore stuff but, as you know, everything has a root in reality.”

“Wolf?” Laura repeated, “I don’t understand, I’ve never seen a werewolf that looks like that.”

“A Rougarou is a werewolf,” Deaton nodded, “but it is one that has been tampered with by magic. Some say it’s a sort of curse.”

“A curse?” Laura cocked her head to the side, “I don’t understand.”

Deaton smiled, “A Rougarou can only be created by someone with strong magical energy, it is a highly advanced spell that requires a blood sacrifice and often backfires and kills the caster if they are not strong enough. A Rougarou is created when a witch casts a spell on someone who has been bitten by a wolf, it takes advantage of the fact that the wolf did not grow with the human and drives a wedge between them. The wolf becomes savage and angry at the fact that it’s being kept apart from its other half and over time it corrupts it.”

Laura nodded, “Keep going.”

“It causes great pain for the human, it makes them feel like they’re being torn apart from the inside as the wolf fights to reconnect with them. It either ends with the person dying or the wolf managing to reform the connection.”

“What happens then?”

“As I said, the magic corrupts the wolf. It’s no longer the calming, protective presence you feel within yourself. It’s angry, vengeful. The magic somehow overwrites the standard Beta shift and it presents as what you and Derek encountered in the preserve. Something similar to an Alpha shift, but more man than wolf. Most people theorize that it’s because the wolf is worried about losing its human connection again so it welcomes it into the shift and finds a way to merge the two sides together.”

Laura was dumbfounded, “How have I never heard of this before?”

“Hunters and werewolves alike have worked to keep it a relative secret,” Deaton said, “it’s probably one of the only things they agree on.”

“Why?”

“Another side effect of the curse is that the witch who completes the spell, given she survives, can potentially have control over the wolf and use it to do her bidding. I’m sure you can see why both hunters and packs would not want that information to be readily available to any witch who decided she wanted to be a little power hungry.”

Laura knew she was still gaping at Deaton but she couldn’t do much to collect herself, “You’re telling me that it’s possible someone is controlling Peter?”

Deaton looked puzzled, “You still think the wolf is Peter?”

“Of course,” Laura said, “who else could it be?”

“It’s not possible for it to be Peter. As I said, the spell only works on a wolf who’s been bitten, it has no effect on a born wolf because the wolf and human sides are bonded from the moment of conception.”

Laura felt her entire body sag in relief. It wasn’t until a few moments later when a memory struck her like a bolt of lightning and a seemingly random conversation she’d overheard as a child became clear to her, “Peter wasn’t a born wolf.”

Deaton wore an expression of surprise that Laura had never seen before, “What?”

Laura thought back to the conversation, “It was something he wasn’t proud of, I think. I overheard him and my mother arguing about it one day, she told him that it was his greatest insecurity and that it would be the ruin of him. From what I could gather, he was born a human and then bitten by my grandmother when he was a few years older. Looking back, it makes so much more sense now. Peter was always jealous of my mother, that she was the Alpha. He always told her that she had it all and never appreciated it.”

Deaton hummed thoughtfully, “It does make sense. It puts quite a few events from the past in new context.”

Laura let her head fall to the table, “This is all my fault.”

“How so?” Deaton asked.

Laura growled, “I left him. I was so worried about myself and Derek that we left Peter on his own. God. I could have called and had him transferred so he would be closer to us but I was so worried that it would alert the Argent’s to where we were that I just left him. I assumed he would be safe, what reason would they have to kill Peter? He was in a coma for fucks sake.”

“He was vulnerable,” Deaton nodded along, “you think someone found him and took advantage of his state.”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Laura growled as she pushed herself back from the table, “it’s why the…the Rougarou smelled like pack. It smells like pack but it’s twisted and dark, it’s the magic.”

Deaton stayed silent, his eyes tracking Laura as she paced back and forth.

“Is there a way to fix this?” Laura asked, “There has to be something, curses are meant to be broken.”

“I’m not sure,” Deaton said honestly, “I only have one book that talks about Rougarou lore and it doesn’t mention any way to break the spell. I’d have to consider it some more, reach out to some people who I think could know something.”

“Could you?” Laura sighed, “I know you’re not my emissary, I know it’s a lot to ask but…I’m lost.”

Deaton nodded, “I may not have a pledge to you, but I promised your mother that I would help you in any way I could. Within reason. It may take me awhile, I don’t want to ask too many questions too fast.”

“Thank you,” Laura smiled. She would hug him but she had a suspicion that Deaton wasn’t a big hugger.

Deaton only nodded in reply.

Laura leaned against the wall as she checked her watch, it was closer to 6am now. She tilted her head to the ceiling as she heard a familiar rumbling sound approaching.

Stiles’ jeep.  

She could also feel Derek growing closer. She smiled a small, knowing smile.

“Derek is here,” Laura told Deaton, “Stiles is with him.”

Deaton’s eyebrows rose again, “As in Stilinski?”

Laura awkwardly avoided eye contact, “Did I forget to mention that?”

Deaton gave Laura a look which told her he was seriously questioning her life choices. Which was fair.

“I hope you’re not planning on biting him too.”

Laura laughed, “No, he seems pretty attached to his humanity.”

Deaton hummed thoughtfully.

Laura heard the bell above the front door ding, she didn’t want to think about how Derek unlocked the front door, “We’re downstairs.”

Laura listened as Derek relayed the message to Stiles.

Stiles was the first to make it to the basement galloping down the steps quickly and without paying attention. Stiles tripped over his feet on the last step and went falling towards the ground face first. Laura moved to catch him but Derek made it first, jumping from the top step and wrapping his hand around Stiles’ bicep before Stiles’ face met the concrete floor.

Stiles looked up with wide eyes and a small smile. Derek nodded, a small jerk of his chin, and quickly released Stiles arm, then settled both of his hands on Stiles shoulders before lightly pushing him away.

It only made Stiles smile more.

Laura rolled her eyes. They were both idiots.

Stiles spun in a circle as he took in the walls of the room and the obvious mystical feeling of the space, “Dude, Doctor Deaton is a witch!”

“Druid,” Deaton deadpanned, not bothering to look up from his book, “it’s nice to see you again Mister Stilinski.”

“Dude! Doctor Deaton, Druid!” Stiles laughed, “alliteration rocks.”

Deaton sighed, long suffering.

It wasn’t until Laura really looked at Derek that she noticed something was wrong. He was hunched in on himself, his shoulders rigid, and his eyes were darting around the room like he was looking for every possible entrance and exit. He smelled like fear, anger, and sadness. Even Stiles had an air of fear about him when Laura looked before the surprised wonder and false bravado.

Something had obviously brought them to Laura.

“What’s wrong?” Laura asked, “Tell me.”

Stiles and Derek both looked at each other as if they were trying to decide who should be the one to speak. They were having a silent argument that Stiles apparently won, if Derek’s growl was any indication.

“Stiles found his father’s file on Harris’ murder.” Derek said.

“Sounds totally legal,” Laura shrugged, “what’s in it?”

“The person who claimed I killed Harris.”

Laura heard Deaton’s chair scrape against the floor behind her but she didn’t turn to face him, “Who was it?”

Stiles eyes were cast towards the floor and Derek’s hands were balled into tight fists, it took a moment but he finally answered, “Kate. The woman who the Sheriff spoke to was Kate.”

Laura felt like she’d been punched in the gut. She took a few steps backwards until she collided with the table and reached behind to grab it and steady herself. It couldn’t have been a coincidence then that she ran into Chris in the grocery store.

“Fuck!” Laura spat, “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

“There’s something else,” Stiles said, “I mean, Kate is terrible and Derek told me about what happened but...”

Laura raked a hand through her hair and sighed, “What is it, Stiles?”

Stiles swallowed audibly, “It’s probably a good thing that Scott is passed out for this part.”

“Stiles!” Derek snapped, “Just fucking tell her!”

“Ok! Ok!” Stiles held up his hands in a placating gesture, “The girl that Scott is head over heels for? Allison?”

Laura’s eyes went wide, how could she not have put the pieces together.

“No.” Laura whispered.

“Yes,” Stiles said, “Allison is Allison Argent. She’s Kate’s niece.”

“I saw them earlier,” Laura said numbly, “Allison and Chris. Fuck.”

Derek’s reply was cut off by Scott stirring in the corner, “Huh? What about Allison?”

Stiles slapped a hand to his face and groaned, “Great.”

Laura was overwhelmed. She didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know how to process any of the information she’d just learned. Her newest Beta wanted to date an Argent? Kate was back and she was the one who turned Derek in? Chris’ veiled threats in the grocery store suddenly made a whole lot more sense.

“Why are you talking about Allison?” Scott said as he sat up, rubbing at his eyes. He was completely human again.

“I didn’t hurt her, did I?” Scott’s eyes went wide as he began to panic.

“No,” Laura said, quickly and as soothingly as she could, “you didn’t hurt anyone, you were here with me all night.”

“Scott, dude,” Stiles began.

Laura glared at him and flashed her eyes red. Something told her that Stiles’ brand of bluntness wouldn’t be the best course of action for this conversation.

“Scott,” Laura said, but she was cut off by the ringing of her cell phone.

Laura was determined to ignore the phone, the faster she told Scott about Allison and her family history the faster they could come up with a plan.

“Laura,” Derek said, “your phone.”

Laura shook her head, “Ignore it, whatever it is isn’t important right now.”

“Laura,” Derek said again, his voice louder, “it’s the hospital.”

Laura’s eyes went wide. She looked back at Scott who nodded at her and then towards the phone. She rushed past Deaton, asking him to break Scott’s mountain ash line in the process, and then quickly answered her phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi, yes,” the voice on the other end said, a little frantic, “is this Laura Hale?”

“Yes, what is this about?”

“Miss Hale, I’m Rebecca, the head of administration at Beacon General,” Rebecca said, “we have you listed as the next of kin for Peter Hale.”

Laura’s stomach dropped, “Did something happen to him?”

Rebecca was quiet for a moment and Laura could hear the murmur of voices behind her on the phone, “Something…unusual has happened, yes.”

Laura turned slowly and looked at Derek whose eyes were as wide as hers felt, “What is it?”

“Miss Hale,” Rebecca said, “your uncle went missing from the hospital sometime last night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyway, hi! information dump there at the end! i wanted to do something a little different than ~the alpha~ of season one, mostly because Laura was alive. And I spent a few hours researching stuff one night and found the legend of the Rougarou pretty interesting and thought it would make a fun fic, I just changed the legend a bit just to make it fit how I wanted the story to go.
> 
> [this is pretty much roughly how i imagine the rougarou of the story to look btwz](https://authorlyngibson.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/rougarou.jpg) just with black eyes instead of red
> 
> Next chapter we'll get some Allison interaction, some Lydia, and maybe one or two more surprises ;)


	11. Gengar Used Substitute!

 

 

 

 

Chapter Eleven

Gengar Used Substitute!

 

Derek met Laura’s eyes from across the room. There was no mistaking what he’d heard on the other end of that phone call. Peter was gone.

Stiles, unsurprisingly, was the first to break the silence, “I know you two have your like, secret wonder twin telepathy thing going on but could you share with the rest of the class?”

Derek barely resisted an eye roll as he looked towards Stiles. Stiles was balanced precariously on the edge of the stool and with Scott was slumped down on the table next to him the odds were fairly high that Scott didn’t hear the phone call either.

“That was the hospital,” Laura said, taking charge, “something happened last night.”

Scott’s head immediately shot up at that, his eyes glowing a dull golden color, “What happened? Did that thing attack it? I need to find my mom!”

Laura stood and quickly made her way around the table and to Scott. Laura’s hand fell to the middle of Scott’s shoulders and began to rub in a gentle, circular motion. It was something that Derek remembered his mother doing whenever any of the cubs got upset.

“That was bad wording on my part, I’m sorry.” Laura said softly.

“Something happened with Uncle Peter,” Derek clarified, “he went missing in the middle of the night.”

Stiles’ eyebrows shot up to his hairline, “How does someone in a _coma_ go missing in the middle of the night?”

Derek didn’t have a chance to reply before Stiles slapped his hand to his own forehead in an apparently surprised revelation, “Hello, Stiles! When that person in a coma is actually an evil werewolf.”

“Actually,” Laura said, “Deaton has a theory about that.”

“That it’s a demon!” Stiles interrupted, “A dancing demon! No, wait, something isn’t right there.”

The entire room fell silent and everyone’s eyes turned to Stiles.

“Stiles, what the hell?” Derek finally asked after several seconds of silence.

Stiles shrugged, “Sorry, I forgot to take my Adderall when you rushed me out the door this morning.”

“Right,” Derek mumbled, “blame it on me.”

Stiles glared, “I heard that! And I didn’t even need fancy magic hearing either!”

Laura sighed before straightening her posture and squaring her shoulders back, “Enough. Both of you. There’s no time for this.”

Derek quickly cut off his snippy reply and turned to face Laura. Stiles was sitting straight up, his hands folded in front of him on the table, and watching Laura with equally rapt attention. Laura looked startled, like she hadn’t expected either of them to listen to her, and Derek realized for the first time how powerful of an Alpha his sister could potential become.

Stiles opened his mouth a few times, evidently trying to draw up the courage to speak, before he settled on raising his hand and waiting to be called on.

Laura chuckled, pointing at Stiles, “Unnecessary, but appreciated.”

Stiles smiled, “What’s the plan?”

Laura drummed her fingers on the table for a second before nodding to herself, “Derek, you’re going to the hospital. Tell them I’m busy and couldn’t make it but get all the information you can out of them. You also have a better sense of smell than me when I’m not fully shifted so if anyone can pick up anything it’ll be you.”

Derek nodded. He was listed alongside Laura as Peter’s next of kin so he figured he wouldn’t have any trouble getting any information out of the hospital staff.

Laura turned towards Scott and Stiles next, “Stiles, you’re going to school. Don’t give me that face, it’ll look weird if you don’t show up. Scott, you’re taking the day off. You’re still vulnerable to emotional outbursts for a few hours after the moon goes down and the whole thing takes a toll on you. You need to sleep, not go to school.”

Derek smiled, seeing his sister give out marching orders was something new and fascinating. She reminded him so much of their mother, in the best way possible. Derek was surprised to find that it didn’t hurt terrible this time when he thought of their mother, instead there was a warm glow that seemed to spread through his entire chest. Laura locked eyes with him across the table, a small smile across her face that conveyed the words, _‘I feel it too’_ , without having to speak.

Scott frowned, “I still want to know why you guys were talking about Allison.”

“We can talk about it later,” Laura said, “you need to rest.”

“No.” Scott stuck his chin out, stubborn and set, “I want to know why.”

Laura narrowed her eyes. Derek doubted she expected to be challenged so quickly after laying down the law but he was admittedly interested in seeing how Laura would handle it.

Unsurprisingly, once again, Stiles offered his opinion, “I think we should probably tell him. I know Scott, if we don’t tell him now he’ll go home and sulk for an hour, then make some terrible decision like running to find Allison and demanding to know why two of the towns newest werewolf residents aren’t too keen on her.”

Derek bit back a small laugh, he could see all that happening in vivid detail. Scott still hadn’t really grasped the concept of discretion.

Laura threw her hands up in the air, “Sure, fine. It’s not like I’m the Alpha or anything.”

Derek hoped that Laura didn’t decide to dwell on it, Scott was a teenager in love before he was a werewolf. He doubted there was anything Laura could have done to get him to drop that particular thread, other than to glare him into submission.

Derek stood from the table, “I’m going to go to the hospital. I’ll call you if I find out anything.”

Laura stood and pulled him into a quick but firm hug, “Be careful, pup.”

Derek could see Stiles grinning at the pet name over Laura’s shoulder. He tried, and failed, to glare him into submission.

Derek wanted to brush it off, to tell her that he’d obviously be safe because he’s just going to the hospital but they both knew, especially with Kate in town, that something terrible could happen at any time. They all needed to be on guard.

“Deaton thinks it’s possible that Peter is being controlled by a witch,” Laura said grimly, “it’s something called a Rougarou. I’ll explain more later just see if you can find any signs of magic, anything that could lead us to this possible witch. There might be a way to save him, Derek. I didn’t think it would be possible at first…but now…just be careful, OK?”

Derek nodded. They’d both accepted the fact that if Peter had gone feral it was either him or them, it was a terrible thing to think of but they had to be prepared for that eventuality. But now? If Peter was being controlled, if there was a way to save him? They had to try, they owed it to their family to at least do that.

A witch was the last thing Derek would have expected when they got back to Beacon Hills but it made sense, especially the rune that was carved into the wall of their old house.

Besides, Derek would rather hunt down a witch than hear Laura retell their family tragedy and listen to Scott fight the idea that Allison is nothing but a bloodthirsty killer. He liked Scott, he didn’t want to have to rip his head off for being an oblivious idiot.

Derek turned to leave the room but stopped before he hit the stairs, “Stiles, give me your phone.”

He heard Stiles’ stool wobble, no doubt a fraction of a second away from falling to the floor, “Huh? What? Why?”

Derek turned on his heel and held out his hand, a bored expression of his face, “Phone, Stiles.”

Stiles’ eyes were wide and slightly weary, as if he expected Derek to take his phone and smash it under his boot. They looked at each other for a few more seconds before Derek sighed, stomped over to Stiles, and plucked the phone out of his hands.

“Hey!” Stiles squawked.

Derek ignored his protests, “Did you want my number or not?”

Stiles grew quiet and Derek could almost feel the frenzy melt away from Stiles, “Oh, yeah. Sure. That’s cool. Bro.”

Derek raised a curious eyebrow as he put his number in Stiles phone, saving himself under the simple initials of DH. He slid Stiles’ phone back to him across the table and Stiles just barely managed to catch it before it slid right off the table and onto the floor.

“I’ll call you after I’m done at the hospital,” Derek said to Laura before he made his way upstairs, “call me if anything major comes up before then.”

Laura nodded, “Stay safe.”

Derek made his way up the stairs, giving Deaton a polite nod before leaving the office, and made his way to the rental car. He was glad they were only a few minutes from the hospital before he wasn’t sure he’d be able to sit in the damn thing for any longer than he had to.

Derek’s phone buzzed in his pocket as he pulled out of the parking lot but he ignored it. There was on lesson his father always tried to impress upon them and it was to never text and drive, he always said that a werewolf could die in a car crash just as easily as a human if they weren’t careful.

Derek drove the few minutes to the hospital in silence, focusing on the road in front of him so he didn’t have to think of anything involving Kate Argent.

When Derek pulled into the parking lot he frowned, the Sheriff’s cruiser was parked right in front of the hospital. Derek wasn’t looking forward to another conversation with him so soon after their last, nor was he looking forward to anymore not so thinly veiled threats about staying away from the Sheriff’s underage son.

Derek parked and walked towards the hospital, pausing when his phone buzzed in his pocket again and reminded him that he had a text. Derek pulled his phone out and unlocked it, immediately rolling his eyes when he read the text from an unknown number.

**From Unknown Number: DH? Seriously? You do know my dad does detective work for a living, right?**

**From Unknown Number: I changed your contact name to Americas Most Wanted btw**

Derek sighed, not unfondly, and added Stiles to his contacts under the name Do Not Answer. He took a screenshot of the entry and sent it to Stiles, figuring he’d be amused by it. He sent Laura a text to tell her he’d made it to the Hospital and pocketed his phone before Stiles had a chance to reply.

The interior of the hospital was the same as Derek remembered it being only a few days before but there was something different in the air. He tipped his head to the side and breathed in deeply, furrowing his brow in confusion as he tried to figure out just what it was he was smelling. He took a few steps forward, following the direction of the scent around a corner and paused when he saw Melissa McCall standing off to the side with her cell pressed against her ear. She looked worn out and frazzled, her dark hair pulled into a mussy bun above her head.

Derek realized it was her he was smelling, or rather, he was smelling the scent of a pack mate on her. He took another step forward and then stopped when he picked up Scott’s voice on the other end of the line.

“I’m serious,” Scott said, sounding terribly pathetic, “I feel like I’m dying, mom.”

Melissa looked skeptical, “What test do you have today that you didn’t study for?”

Scott coughed and sounded slightly convincing, “I don’t! I promise, I really don’t feel good.”

Melissa sighed and tipped her head towards the ceiling, “Fine, you can stay home but if you’re really sick then no video games and no Stiles until I verify that you’re either not contagious or that you’re lying.”

“OK. Can I go back to bed now?”

Melissa shook her head, smiling, “Yes. I’ll be home in a few hours, do you need anything?”

Scott made another pathetic wining sound and Derek rolled his eyes, he’d have to talk to Scott about not hamming it up too much after every full moon so Melissa doesn’t get suspicious.

Derek tuned out the rest of the conversation to be polite and waited until Melissa hung up the phone to approach her. Her back was turned towards Derek so he made a few sounds louder than he normally would so he didn’t scare her to death.

“Nurse McCall?” Derek asked just as she turned around to face him.

“Derek?” Melissa asked, looking momentarily confused before something seemed to click in her brain, “Derek! You’re here about your uncle?”

“Yes,” Derek said, “Laura got the call but she’s…unavailable right now so she asked me to come down to see what you know?”

Melissa waved him forward and they walked down the hallway towards the elevators, “I should probably wait for the Sheriff to fill you in before I tell you anything.”

Derek paused as they waited for the doors to open, “I don’t get how someone with his condition just disappears? He didn’t just…walk out in the middle of the night, did he?”

Melissa laughed, “It was a strange night but it wasn’t _that_ strange.”

Derek cocked his head to the side, “What happened?”

Melissa stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the same floor he and Laura had visited the other day, “The hospital had a power surge last night, I’ve never seen anything like it in all the years I’ve been here.”

That wasn’t suspicious at all, Derek thought, “Power surge?”

Melissa nodded, “A little after midnight, all the lights flashed a few times and then this sound, like thunder, rolled through the building and all the lights died.”

“How long were they out?”

“Maybe ten minutes?” Melissa contemplated, “They discovered Peter missing a few minutes after the lights came back on.”

“You have backup generators, right?”

“Melissa nodded, “They kicked on a few seconds later.”

“Would the security cameras still work with the generator?” Derek asked.

“That was my first thought,” Melissa said, “they’re supposed to but apparently the surge fried the mainframe and deleted a few weeks’ worth of archived footage, including everything from that night.”

 _Totally_ not suspicious, Derek thought again, “Who found out he was missing?”

“One of his regular nurses.” Melissa said.

Derek thought back to their visit with Peter, “Jennifer?”

Melissa looked up, startled and a bit confused, “Who?”

Derek opened his mouth but was cut off by Melissa’s pager beeping frantically. She looked down at it and sighed, “Dammit, sorry. Emergency. The Sheriff should be just down the hallway.”

Derek could hear, and smell, the Sheriff just down the hallway inside of the room that used to belong to Peter. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, then let them drop again because he figured making his shoulders look even broader was some kind of intimidation tactic that would fail horribly, and made his way down to Peter’s room.

The Sheriff was leaning against the window, obviously looking for any signs of entry. Derek would point out that it was probably moot since they were a few dozen feet from the ground but he didn’t feel like getting shot.

Derek cleared his throat, “Sheriff?”

The Sheriff turned, and if the stutter in his heartbeat didn’t give away his surprise at seeing Derek then his eyes would have. The Sheriff, to his credit, recovered quickly and admitted, “I was expecting to see Laura.”

Derek shrugged, “She couldn’t get away.”

The Sheriff looked like he wanted to say more but he held himself back for some reason, “We dusted for prints but it seems like the janitor came through and cleaned just before Peter went missing. The only fingerprints in the room likely belong to her and Peter.”

“And the janitor?”

“Is a seventy-year-old grandmother of three,” The Sheriff quirked a small smile, “I don’t think she would abduct anyone.”

Appearances can be deceiving, Derek wanted to say, “Did anyone see anything?”

“I had a few deputies make some rounds but everything went a bit crazy when the power went out, everyone went to check on the patients in the ward who were on ventilators. It’s why they left Peter for last.”

Derek could’ve made a comment about the staff neglecting Peter but he would be just as guilty so he bit his tongue.

“A few of the staff said you and Laura were here the other day, do you know anything?” The Sheriff asked.

Derek sighed, “I didn’t kidnap my uncle if that’s what you’re asking.”

The Sheriff laughed, smiled even, “I didn’t think you did, Derek. I was just asking if you remember anything out of the ordinary.”

“Oh,” Derek said, feeling like a bit of an ass, “No. Not really. We spoke to Nurse McCall when we got lost and then one of Peter’s nurses but other than that we just visited and left.”

The Sheriff nodded, pulling out a notepad, “Do you remember the name of Peter’s nurse?”

“Jennifer,” Derek said, “I didn’t catch her last name.”

“Give me a few seconds, let me go ask around,” The Sheriff said as Derek stepped out of the doorway, he paused before leaving the room, “Oh, you can tell Laura she can come pick up her car this afternoon, it was deer blood.”

“Like she said it was,” Derek said, “thank you.”

The Sheriff’s eyes narrowed slightly before he turned and walked down to the nurse’s station. Derek looked over his shoulder to make sure the Sheriff was occupied before he stepped into the room and took stock of it.

The Sheriff was right, the room had been cleaned recently. The false lemon smell of the antiseptic burned his nose as he leaned down into the bed. Peter’s scent was strongest on the pillow and seemed to gradually dissipate the further that Derek went down on the bed.

Derek paused to listen for the Sheriff and went back to work after realizing he was still talking to one of the nurses.

Derek walked around to the other side of the bed and stumbled, his eyes went wide and he looked at the ground in confusion because there was nothing for him to trip over. Derek cocked his head to the side, he knew he didn’t trip over his own feet because what self-respecting werewolf would do that?

He stepped to the side and walked back to the front of the bed, giving a wide berth of space to the area that he tripped over. He listened for the Sheriff again before taking a step forward, then another, then one more, and then stumbling in the exact same spot as before.

“What the?” Derek mumbled to himself.

Derek dropped to his knees and looked under the bed, he could see something but he couldn’t make it out with the bed obstructing his view. He stood quickly, listened again and heard the Sheriff quietly arguing with another nurse, and then turned back to the bed. Derek lifted the bed with one hand and sat it off to the side.

Derek looked back down to the floor and his eyes went wide when he realized what he was looking at. There was a rune etched into the floor, thick black lines surrounding what looked like four triangles folded in on themselves and then incased in another diamond shape. He pulled out his phone, quickly snapping a picture, and moved the bed back to its previous position as he heard the Sheriff’s footsteps echo from down the hallway.

Derek made his way to the door, shouldering through and slipping into the crowd of people in the hallway. He could hear the Sheriff behind him calling his name but he kept his back turned as he made his way towards the elevator. The doors opened the second Derek hit the call button and Derek darted inside, jamming the close button as the Sheriff’s face came into view from the other end of the hallway.

 

 

X

 

Laura patiently waited for Scott to get off the phone with his mother. Scott insisted he needed her approval to stay home from school and that if he tried to stay home without telling her it would end with him being grounded until the next full moon and that didn’t bode well for anyone.

Laura watched with a slight tinge of amusement as Scott practiced several kinds of fake coughs, dropped his voice so it sounded like he was congested, and basically wined like a little baby on the phone. Laura could hear Melissa on the other end, clearly hesitant about the validity of Scott’s claims, but in the end, she gave in. Most mothers usually did.

Laura swallowed down the sadness of the memories of her mother, of trying to convince an Alpha werewolf that she was too sick to go to school regardless of the fact that werewolves don’t get sick.

“She said she would be home in a few hours,” Scott said, drawing Laura from her memories, “I think she got wrapped up in the thing with your uncle too.”

Laura ignored the anxiousness that had settled itself on her shoulders. She couldn’t let her guilt over the situation with Peter take over just yet. She knew she had to stay strong for Scott, and even Stiles.

Stiles, meanwhile, was grinning at his phone like an idiot. Laura could probably guess who’s texts he was reading. Or rather, rereading, since she hadn’t heard Stiles’ phone go off since Derek let her know that he was at the hospital.

It was a small miracle that Stiles had gotten Derek to even reply to a text, let alone get Derek to give Stiles his number.  Laura wondered if she was underestimating this…whatever that Derek and Stiles had going on. She’d teased Derek at first because it was an easy target, it made Derek blush and made him give Laura that throaty growl that she found hilarious. She never expected it to last, for Derek to not rip Stiles’ head off mid-ramble or Stiles to not get fed up with Derek’s inability to act like a regular person. But somehow, they’d only known each other for about a week and Stiles was already making Derek blush and bringing out the fiercely protective side of her brother she hadn’t seen since Cora was alive.

Laura decided if she survived telling Scott that his girlfriend would probably kill him if she knew he was a werewolf then having a talk about Derek and his whatever with Stiles would be a cakewalk. 

Anyway, on to the hard part.

Laura took a deep breath, “Scott, first things first, I need you to promise me that you’ll let me speak before you say anything.”

Scott looked skeptical but he nodded anyway.

“Stiles,” Laura asked him, “Did Derek tell you anything about our family? About what happened to them?”

Stiles nodded, “The basic summary, we didn’t really _talk_ about it.”

Laura figured as much.

“Before I go on about that, there’s something you both have to understand.” Laura said, waiting for both Stiles and Scott to nod.

“I should have told you this sooner, I would have made it perfectly clear to Scott before I bit him if it would have happened under any other circumstances but there just wasn’t time.”

Laura took a deep breath.

“For almost as long as there have been werewolves, there have been hunters. The sole objective of hunters is to protect humans from the dangers that come with werewolves and other supernatural creatures. They have a code, _we hunt those who hunt us_ , it’s supposed to be a guideline that they follow. It’s supposed to protect the werewolves and other creatures who don’t harm humans, the ones who just want to live a peaceful life. It isn’t always the case.”

Laura looked at Scott and Stiles, they were both still listening with rapt attention.

“There are good groups of hunters out there, ones who protect innocent people against actual werewolves who want to harm them. They keep an eye on packs to make sure that they’re not growing their power to take over a local drug trade or start some kind of human trafficking ring. It’s happened before and the area hunters were able to put a stop to it, so when I say that there are good ones out there I do believe it, but I also believe that the bad ones far outnumber the good ones.”

Scott was fidgeting in his seat, clearly desperate to say something.

“I’m sure you’re wondering what this has to do with Allison?” Laura asked Scott.

Scott nodded and Stiles winced. Stiles had clearly already put the pieces together in his head before this conversation even began.

“Thousands of werewolves have died at the hands of hunter who don’t follow the code, entire packs have been decimated in a matter of minutes. My family was one of those packs. The Hale Fire, as the locals so lovingly refer to it, was not a matter of faulty wiring in an old house. A group of hunters surrounded our home in mountain ash during our family reunion, they pumped wolfsbane gas into the air system to take out the wolves and some kind of sleeping gas to incapacitate the human members of our pack, and then they set the home on fire.”

Scott’s eyes were wide and Stiles looked like he was overcome with sadness.

“My entire family died that night, Derek and I only survived because we were late getting home that evening. I’m still not entirely sure how Peter survived but that’s another issue all together. I’m telling you this because the hunters who did this were part of an old family, one of the first hunting families in existence. The Argent’s killed my entire pack.”

“What- “Laura cut Scott off.

“You said you would let me finish.”

Scott bit his tongue, quite literally, and nodded for Laura to continue.

“The Argent’s used to be part of the good group of hunters but they’ve been systematically poisoned over the years by Gerard Argent and his daughter Kate. They’ve recruited what are basically racist extremists to join their ranks and they follow a flimsy version of the code, twisting it in any way they can to justify cold blooded murder. I’ve never met Gerard, but I’ve met Kate and she’s as crazy and evil as they come. I’ve known her brother Chris for a number of years too, he was never outwardly hostile to me but we didn’t exactly have the greatest reunion in the grocery store the other day.”

Laura finished, “That about sums it up, I’m sure both of you have questions.”

“Chris is Allison’s father, right?” Stiles asked.

“Yes,” Laura nodded, “I ran into him and Allison together yesterday.”

Scott took a deep breath, “There’s no way you can know if Allison is some kind of killer! You don’t know her, she’d never hurt a fly!”

Stiles looked a little more dubious, “Dude, she’s a championship archer. She could hurt a fly from like a thousand feet away if she wanted to.”

That answered one of Laura’s questions, Allison was already proficient with a common weapon for a hunter.

“I’m not accusing her of anything, Scott,” Laura said placatingly, “How old is Allison?”

Scott tipped his head backwards, “She just had her 16th birthday a few months ago, why?”

Laura grimaced, “From what I understand, members of the Argent family are introduced to the…family business on their 16th birthday. They’re given a choice, they can join and become an official hunter or they can abstain and live a relatively normal life. If they choose to join then they are trained to become killers and if they don’t they’re still taught basic self-defense and know how to protect themselves from werewolves and other creatures.”

“So, you’re saying it’s possible that Allison doesn’t want to kill all werewolves?” Stiles asked.

Scott looked hopeful and it almost physically hurt Laura to let him down.

“Even if she doesn’t join she’ll be told stories about how we’re monsters and don’t belong in the world,” Laura felt her face twist in anger, “just because she doesn’t want to dedicate her life to hunting my kind down doesn’t mean that she wouldn’t share the same beliefs and couldn’t still hurt you.”

“You said you met her yesterday?” Stiles leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms above his head, “Did you get any bad vibes from her?”

Laura thought back to the smiling girl in the grocery store, the one who wasn’t lying when she said she didn’t know who Laura was. Still, Laura couldn’t know for sure because she was so focused on Chris being the main threat that she didn’t take time to properly assess Allison.

“Not immediately,” Laura admitted, “but I wasn’t focused on her.”

Scott frowned, looking entirely like a kicked puppy, “Are you trying to tell me I can’t see her anymore?”

Laura was torn. Every instinct within her was screaming to say yes, to tell Scott that she was the Alpha and he was the Beta and that she wouldn’t allow him to see Allison. But Laura also remembered being a teenager, she remembered rebelling against her mother and defying direct orders from her Alpha. Allison was a part of Scott’s life before Laura and Derek ever dragged their bullshit into it and it didn’t seem fair to try and separate them.

“No,” Laura said after several minutes of contemplation, “and I’m doing this against my better judgement. Allison was in your life before you were bitten and it would look too suspicious if you stopped associating with her after the full moon. You’re going to be careful thought, and I’m going to be watching you. I don’t want the two of you alone together until you find an anchor and get a better grip on your control. Believe me, teenage hormones and werewolf hormones do not mix.”

Scott perked up a little at that but Laura could tell that there was still something that was bothering him. He shared a look with Stiles, who sighed, and cradled his head in his hands.

“I’ll just ask the question that Scott is too scared to ask,” Stiles said after a few seconds, “what happens if it turns out that Allison is a hunter?”

Laura legitimately had no answer. She had no idea how to handle something like that. She knew the chances of forging some kind of treaty with the Argent’s was out of the question, especially if Kate was back. And if they found out that Laura had bitten and turned a teenager then they would use that as a justification to hunt her down, regardless of the fact that it saved Scott’s life.

“Then you’ll be lucky you found out early.” Laura said simply, “The Argent family is run under a matriarchal structure, Allison’s grandmother was the matriarch before she died. I’m a bit fuzzy on the line of succession but I think that means Allison, if she chooses to join their ranks, would be next in line for the matriarch position once she turns 18. If there’s one thing worse than falling for a hunter, it’s falling for a matriarch.”

Stiles gaped, “So Allison is basically a warrior princess?”

“I wouldn’t exactly describe it in those terms,” Laura grimaced, “but technically speaking, yes.”

Scott couldn’t quite hide his soft smile from Laura and she had the sickening feeling that it made Allison even _more_ attractive in his eyes. Not for the first time, but Laura wondered what she’d done in her 27 years on this planet to be cursed with such terrible luck.

“I’ll do some recon at School today then, Allison and I have Chemistry together,” Stiles paused, wrinkling his face, “like, the class. Not actual chemistry. We all have it. Together. The class. Because, she’s nice and all and the dimples and flowing hair are a nice combination but after the whole, maybe psychopath revelation there’s like…”

“Stiles,” Laura sighed, cutting him off, “I got you the first time. And no, you’re not doing any type of recon. If she’s a hunter then she’s already been taught what to look for, how to spot leading questions and potential signs. She’ll know exactly why you’re digging around in her family history.”

“But,” Stiles began.

Laura cut him off again with a shake of her head, “No.”

Stiles huffed, “Oh, so Scott gets to make out with her still but I don’t get to find out if she’s secretly trying to kill my friends.”

Scott yelped, “Make out?! We haven’t even held hands yet!”

Stiles rolled his eyes and began to bicker back and forth with Scott. Laura watched them with abject fascination and horror, wondering how she could have possibly thought bringing two teenagers into her pack was ever a good idea.

“Enough!” Laura growled, eyes red, “This is not something to argue about. Stiles, Kate killed my entire family, including humans. The hunter code states that they’re never to kill children, even if they’re werewolves, or humans. Kate did both. She killed ever human member of my family, my pack, including the kids and teenagers. She killed spouses, aunts, uncles, and cousins. She killed toddlers and newborn babies.”

Laura could feel her fury growing, she was vaguely aware of Stiles fear but she could tell it was fear of the situation and not directed at Laura herself.

“She killed them all, Stiles. Kate didn’t hesitate to hurt them and she wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you if she knew you were close to us or that you knew the truth about her actions. I’m not telling you to leave it alone to be a bitch, I’m telling you to leave it alone because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Stiles nodded and looked guilty.

Laura looked down at her watch, “Stiles, you need to get to school. Scott, you need to get home before your mom. I need to call Derek and see if he found anything. We’ll get together sometime this evening and talk about anything else we need to, OK?”

“Where?” Scott asked.

Laura smiled, “I have an idea.”

 

X

 

Stiles could count the number of times that he’d arrived at school without Scott on one hand. Well, maybe one and a half hands. All of the pervious times had been because Scott was recovering from a particularly bad asthma attack so at least this time had its novelty. Still, he felt like he was missing some sort of protective shield.

Maybe today would be a good day to take up Laura’s idea of branching out and talking to other people and trying to find someone else he could connect with. Though it was a bit embarrassing now that Stiles realized he’d basically been told he needed to stop being a quasi-loner and make more friends by a hot and terrifying werewolf.

“Stiles!” A terrifyingly familiar voice rang out from behind him.

Stiles went rigid. Of course, _of course_ , this would happen.

“Allison!” Stiles said, his voice totally not suspiciously rising a few octaves higher than usual, “What’s up? How’s it going? Shoot anything with your bow lately?”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Allison laughed, shaking her head with a fond smile, “As weird as always, Stiles.”

Stiles let out a nervous laugh, suddenly amazingly thankful for the fact that he’d always been an awkward asshole who said everything that came to his mind, “What’s up?”

Allison fell into step beside him as they walked towards the front of the school. Stiles tried to sneakily glance at her out of the corner of his eyes and was suddenly, painfully, aware of all the places she could be hiding a weapon. Under the sleeves of her jacket or in her combat boots.

Honestly, it’s a wonder that Stiles never put it together before because he always thought it was weird that Allison primarily wore combat boots to school. Though the Stiles of a few weeks ago probably wouldn’t have jumped to the conclusion that she was possibly just trying to be ready in case she had to kick supernatural ass at a moment’s notice.

“Where’s Scott?” Allison asked, “I tried calling him this morning but his phone went straight to voicemail.”

“Oh,” Stiles said, keenly aware that Allison probably knew that last night was a full moon, “I found him curled up in his bed this morning, like, oozing snot. Seriously, it was so gross. He was just like, dripping it all over the place and couldn’t even talk. Some real nasty stuff. Melissa made him stay home and turn off his phone so he could get some sleep.”

Allison frowned, “Of course Scott chooses today of all days to get sick.”

“Today?” Stiles asked, probably a bit too quickly, “What’s today?”

Allison stopped in front of her locker and gave Stiles a wicked grin, “Oh, you’ll find out later. It’s a surprise!”

“That’s not ominous.” Stiles said as the first bell rang, “Well, that’s me! Time for English!”

Allison laughed, “Bye, Stiles. See you in Chemistry!”

 

X

 

Stiles decided to spend his lunch period in the library. He wasn’t particularly hungry and without Scott he didn’t have many options aside from sitting at a table alone which wasn’t an option at all.

Besides, he could use the library to get the bang out his father’s taxpaying bucks and use the computers to do some research on the Argent family. After all, Stiles promised Laura that he specifically wouldn’t talk to Allison about it, he never said anything about consulting the internet.

There were a few people in the library but no one looked up when Stiles walked in. He made his way past the librarian’s desk and settled at the row of computers in the very back of the library and as far away from prying eyes as he possibly could.

Stiles did the first sensible thing, typed ‘Argent’ into the search bar. He laughed out loud when he realized that Argent was the French word of silver. Talk about irony. Well, the Alanis kind.

Next up was Allison, he put her name into the search bar and hit enter. He found a few articles about her from her last school. They were about the girl who had an Olympic level mastery of archery and he spent a few minutes reading off stats that made no sense to him. The final article he read was an interview Allison had given to an archery magazine where she was asked why she turned down an invitation to join the Olympic qualifying team.

Her answer? She was young and wanted to spend more time with her family.

Well. Shit.

Chris Argent was next. He learned that Allison’s father was a weapons dealer who specialized in antique weapons of warfare. There were a few interviews from Guns & Ammo magazine where he detailed his process of how he tracks old weapons down from all eras and is constantly flying around the globe to try and obtain them for interested parties. His wife, Victoria, ran the business side of things and controlled the bookkeeping because Chris claimed, with a hearty laugh, that he wasn’t any good at it.

It turns out, Stiles discovered after googling Gerard Argent, that _Argent Antique Reclamations_ was a family business that was started almost forty years ago by his late wife, Cassandra Argent. There was another interview from the same magazine where Gerard, who just looked like a creepy mother fucker, told the magazine that his wife started the business one day because she had such a love for history. Their children, Kate and Chris, started helping out when they were in high school and both really took to it as well. After Cassandra died in a tragic accident she left the business to Gerard. Gerard retired a few years ago and left it to Chris, which was a surprise because everyone thought that it would be left to Kate but Gerard explained that Cassandra was very specific in that she wanted Chris to take over.

Interesting.

Kate was the last name that Stiles searched. Surprisingly, there was far less information about her than the rest of the family. There were a few pictures from extreme sports magazines that she’d appeared in but there were no interviews and nothing recent. The last time her name had been mentioned anywhere that Google would pick up was the last interview Gerard gave where he talked about the business being left to Chris.

It seemed like there was a bit of family tension going on. But Kate was in town and Allison was excited to see her, so maybe all the drama involved Kate and her parents? From what Laura said it had seemed like Gerard and Kate were closer than Gerard and Chris, that Kate shared Gerard’s ideology more than Chris did. It didn’t make sense at first, but then Stiles went back and re-read Gerard’s interview. Gerard very specifically said that Cassandra made sure that Chris was the one left with the business and not Kate.

The antique business was an obvious front for their escapades as hunters and Stiles thought it was kind of genius. He knew what kind of papers antique dealers traveled with and those things could easily let Chris or any other “employee” through customs with all kinds of weapons.

But it didn’t make sense that Cassandra wanted Chris to run the business. Laura had said that the Argent’s were run in a matriarchal fashion so wouldn’t the line of succession fall to Kate? Stiles was clearly missing something.

“Is this seat taken?” An unsure, an unfamiliar voice came from behind Stiles.

Stiles flailed, frantically clicking at the screen to close all of his tabs, and turned around, “Hi! Nothing to see here!”

Stiles looked up at the girl standing behind him. She was dressed in a too large sweater that sleeves hung down almost past her fingers and she was clutching her bag to her chest. She had long hair, blonde and slightly unruly, and it took Stiles a second to realize who she was.

“Erica?” Stiles asked, surprised.

Erica look just as surprised to be recognized as she sat her bag down on the chair next to Stiles, “You know who I am?”

“Yeah,” Stiles nodded, “obviously.”

Erica’s face twisted into a bitter frown, “Right. Of course, everyone knows who I am.”

Erica didn’t linger, she angrily snatched her back out of the chair and turned on her heel to stalk off back towards the front of the library.

“Wait!” Stiles yelped, jumping up from his seat and knocking it over in the process, “Erica! Wait! I didn’t mean it like that!”

Erica paused but didn’t turn around.

Stiles stood where he was, “Really, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“How did you mean it?” Erica asked, her voice small.

“I remembered last year,” Stiles said, “talking to you in the hallway after…you know.”

Erica laughed bitterly, “Yeah, I know. I didn’t think you’d remember me.”

“Dude,” Stiles smiled, “I’m like an elephant, I never forget anything.”

“An elephant?” Erica raised an eyebrow.

Stiles gave her a lazy salute, “Just call me Dumbo.”

Erica rolled her eyes but Stiles didn’t miss the small smile that crept across her face, “Alright Dumbo, why are you spending your lunch hour in the library?”

“Research,” Stiles shrugged, “lots and lots of research.”

Erica looked dubious, “Allison Argent’s family history is research?”

Stiles’ eyes went wide and he sputtered, “It’s not…that’s…it’s less creepy than you think.”

Erica grinned, and it reminded Stiles of the look Laura gave him when she wanted to freak him out, “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation.”

“Scott!” Stiles said quickly, flailing his arms, “Scott’s hopelessly in love with her and a terrible study so I was trying to find…archery facts for him and then it just spiraled into some kind of weird stalker thing.”

Erica looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh, “Does it spiral often?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Stiles let out a huff, “though it usually starts with me looking up the French Revolution and ends with me reading the Wikipedia article on Marshmallow Fluff because I wanted to know how it was made.”

Erica looked a little more relaxed as she took a tentative step forward and pulled out the seat that was next to the one Stiles knocked over. Stiles picked his chair up and sat back down, waiting to see if Erica would join him.

Stiles smiled when Erica sat down, “It’s cool you’re back at school.”

Erica blushed a bit, “Yeah…my parents figured since Matt got expelled that I could come back this year. People have left me alone for the most part, I think they’re all just scared to end up like Matt if they look at me wrong or something.”

Stiles glared at the computer screen, “Matt was a dick and he deserved what he got.”

“He was,” Erica laughed, “thank you.”

Stiles cocked his head to the side, “For what?”

Erica rolled her eyes, “For getting you dad to take it seriously. I know you’re the one who changed his mind on doing a full investigation. You’re the reason he was expelled and hit with a million community service hours.”

Stiles’ eyes went wide, he had no idea that Erica knew he basically annoyed his dad every single day for a week until he took a deeper look into what Matt did.

“It was nothing,” Stiles tried to wave it off, “I maybe just cited like…ten case laws from across the county about invasion of privacy and cyber bullying.”

“Your dad said you also made quite a case for breaking and entering on school property.” Erica smiled, “Thank you. It meant a lot.”

“Oh,” Stiles felt his cheeks grow hot, “you’re welcome. It wasn’t really that big of a deal, I just wanted to make sure he didn’t get away with it.”

Erica smiled and turned her head away, “Whatever, Stilinski. It was a big deal to me, OK?”

Stiles opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a different, more familiar voice.

“There you are. God, I’ve been looking for you for the last half hour.”

“Lydia?” Stiles turned around in his chair and looked around to try and find her.

Lydia stood behind Stiles with her arms crossed over her chest. She shook her head, tossing red curls over her shoulder, and glared at Stiles. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

“Forgot?” Stiles repeated dumbly.

Lydia sighed and looked upwards as if she was asking a higher power for the patience to deal with Stiles, “We were supposed to go over our lab work before Chemistry.”

“Fuck,” Stiles groaned, “I’m sorry, I completely blanked.”

The fact that Stiles had forgotten about a lunch date with Lydia was almost inconceivable. A year ago, Stiles would have sacrificed a small woodland creature just to have Lydia sit at the same table as him let alone actually eating together and conversing.

Lydia tapped her foot repeatedly against the floor, “Right, because you’ve been so busy doing whatever it is you were doing.”

“Research.” Erica said with a sly grin.

Lydia’s eyes briefly flicked towards Erica before she grabbed Stiles by the back of his hoodie, “We’ve lost lunch but if we leave now we can make it to class before the bell and use that time to go over the group work.”

Stiles was powerless to stop Lydia as she hauled him away from the computer. Erica watched with a mixture of a few conflicting emotions on her face.

“This was nice!” Stiles called to Erica as Lydia pulled him towards the door, “We should have lunch together tomorrow.”

Stiles was pulled out pf the library before he could hear Erica’s reply.

“Rude much?” Stiles glared at Lydia as they walked down the stairs.

Lydia smirked, “Your taste is wildly inconsistent.”

Stiles sputtered, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Lydia hummed an assent, “Nothing. I figured when you said you were over me that you were under, or at least wanting to be under, someone else. I wouldn’t have expected Erica Reyes but she seems nice.”

Stiles’ eyes went wide, “What? No! No, I really don’t have a thing for Erica. I mean, she’s nice and all but I don’t want to be…under her? Though wouldn’t she technically be under me?”

Lydia gave him the side eye, “It’s wildly sexist to assume that all women just lay under their men like bored blow up dolls.”

“That wasn’t…” Stiles shook his head, “Nope. Never mind. Not even falling for that bait.”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.” Lydia rolled her eyes.

“You’re impossible,” Stiles groaned, “Anyway, Erica is really isn’t the person I have eyes for.”

“Hmm,” Lydia mused, “If it isn’t me, and it isn’t Erica…don’t tell me you’ve finally fallen in love with Scott??

“Scott?!” Stiles almost gagged, “Never in a million years. I mean, I see the charm and all but when you’ve seen Scott do the things that I have it kinda ruins any chance at ever being sexually attracted to him. Nope, Scott is not the dude I have my eye on.”

Lydia, for the first time that Stiles could ever remember seeing, looked shocked.

“Lydia?” Stiles quirked an eyebrow.

It wasn’t until a few seconds later that Stiles’ brain registered what he’d just said out loud.

“Oh,” Stiles said, “Umm…surprise?”

Stiles waited several nervous seconds for Lydia to react. It was the second time he’d accidently told someone he was bisexual and he was far more nervous to see how Lydia would react than he was with Scott. Stiles had known deep down that Scott would accept him but Lydia was an unknown.

Lydia’s mouth slowly stretched into a soft smile and she lightly elbowed Stiles in the side, “You know, I really do like you so much better when you’re not trying to make me fall in love with you.”

Stiles let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in, “Few have ever been able to resist the Stilinski charm but you’ve always been one to do the impossible.”

Lydia laughed, “Let’s hear about this mysterious guy then, it’s not Danny, is it?”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “No, Danny wouldn’t even entertain me when I tried to flirt with him. It was kind of heart breaking actually, he flirts with everyone.”

Stiles kept walking and waited for Lydia’s reply. It took him a few seconds to notice he was walking alone though. He looked to his left and found the space empty.

“Lydia?”

Stiles stopped and turned around. Lydia was standing in the middle of the hallway with her arms slack and her purse loosely dangling off of her wrist. Stiles took a step towards her and saw that her eyes were blown impossibly wide, her pupils dilated so much it gave her the appearance of a cartoon character.

“Lydia? What’s wrong?”

Lydia didn’t reply. She continued to look down the hallway, unblinking, and didn’t react to Stiles waving a hand in her face. He stood in front of her and leaned down to her eye level and realized that she wasn’t even breathing.

Stiles fumbled for his cell phone, ready to call 911 in the event that Lydia was having some kind of stroke, when the light snapped back into Lydia’s eyes and she sucked in a deep gasp of air. Lydia stumbled, bracing herself against the row of lockers, and tried to hold herself steady even as she was trembling.

“Lydia!” Stiles rushed over to her, “What the hell? Are you OK?”

Lydia looked up at Stiles, her eyes wide and filled with fear.

“Do I need to call someone?” Stiles asked.

Lydia shook her head quickly, “No. Just tell me you heard that too.”

“Heard what?” Stiles asked, “Lydia, I didn’t hear anything.”

Lydia ran a trembling hard through her hair, “How did you not hear it? The echo was so loud, it was all around us.”

“Echo?”

Lydia let out a long breath, “It was like…it sounded like high heels.”

“High heels?” Stiles was getting more and more concerned by the second.

Lydia made some kind of annoyed sound, “Like someone in heels walking behind us! It was so loud it echoed off of the walls!”

“Lydia, we’re the only people in the hallway. We’ve been the only people in the hallway this entire time.”

Lydia opened her mouth but was cut off by the ring of the bell overhead. The doors to the surrounding classrooms opened and Lydia quickly pushed Stiles away, standing up straight and smoothing her hands down the front of her dress. It was like nothing happened.

“Let’s go,” Lydia said quickly, “I still want to see what you said for the third long response.”

Lydia walked ahead of him, moving swiftly and dodging anyone who tried to come near her. Stiles watched her go, dumbstruck and utterly confused about what had just happened.  

When Stiles made it to the classroom he found Lydia with her things spread out on the lab table that they shared as partners. She continued to act as if nothing was wrong as she snatched Stiles’ lab notebook out of his hands and opened it to their most recent experiment.

Stiles tried to act like everything was normal. Clearly Lydia didn’t want to discuss what had just happened and he wasn’t going to do their tentative friendship any favors by trying to push her to talk about what happened. Instead, he simply answered the question she asked about their homework.

It was their first Chemistry class since Harris’ resignation and subsequent murder and no one really knew what the school was going to do but Stiles and Lydia had both decided to do their work as scheduled just in case it was collected.

It took Stiles another second to notice that the table in front of them, the one that Scott shared with Allison, was completely empty. Scott obviously wouldn’t be in class but there was no reason Allison would be missing.

No reason that didn’t involve murdering werewolves anyway.

Before Stiles could mention it to Lydia, the door to the classroom swung open. Stiles looked up and saw Allison enter the room with a bright smile on her face. Instead of walking to her table though, she stayed at the door and held it open.

Stiles look on in confusion for a few seconds. The entire class must have been as confused as he was because the room quickly fell silent. A moment later, Stiles heard it.

 The sound of someone walking in high heels echoing through the hallway outside of the class, slowly moving closer.

Lydia’s eyes went wide and she slowly turned to Stiles. Their eyes met and Stiles could see his own face reflected back in Lydia’s eyes.

Stiles turned back to the front of the class when he heard Allison pull out her chair in front of him. There was a woman at the front of the class with her back turned to the students while she wrote something on the white board.

Allison turned back to him with a wide smile on her face, “I told you I had a surprise!”

Stiles looked back at Lydia who had mostly recovered and was now looking facing the front of the class with a tilt to her head and a slightly confused look on her face.

Stiles looked forward and his stomach dropped.

Standing at the front of the class was a woman dressed in a tight black pencil skirt and a white top with the first few buttons undone, her long hair was tousled and she wore a necklace with a pendant that hung dangerously low in the center of her chest. A hollow, silver arrow head that had a single purple flower encased in the middle of it that pressed into her tan skin.

The woman grinned, the sickly-sweet smile of a predator, “Good afternoon, class. My name is Kate Argent and I’ll be your substitute Chemistry teacher for the rest of the semester.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda blown away by the fact that I'm close to 10k hits, 200 comments, and 600 kudos. I'm so happy that everyone is enjoying this so much and it's just a blast to write something that people really like! That being said, I wrote part of this chapter when I was half asleep so it might reflect that in some parts lol
> 
> Anyway! Canon? What canon? 
> 
> I'm v excited with what I have planned for Lydia and the more ideas that I come up with for other characters keep growing and growing to the point where I've already cut off a few things I've had planned for people you have and haven't met yet and made places for in the outline to the sequel. 
> 
> It's been a bit of a stretch without any action but we'll have plenty of it coming up soon so I hope you're excited!


	12. I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's pretty much a warning from here to the end of the story re: Kate in that she's literally a psychopath and a rapist. There's nothing graphic or explicit but there's some non-consensual touching of arms and legs done in an attempt to seduce and things that could make people uncomfortable so just a heads up that if that bothers you or you can't read it then you should stop here.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 12

I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream

 

So.

Kate Argent was his new Chemistry teacher.

Well, that’s something. It’d been a long week of firsts but Stiles was absolutely sure that he’d never have guessed this time last week that he’d wish Mr. Harris was still his teacher.

Allison turned around and grinned at him, “I wish Scott was here, I wanted to surprise him with this too. You don’t know how excited I am to have a Chemistry teacher who doesn’t terrify me.”

Stiles barely managed to smile and nod after remembering that he wasn’t supposed to know that Kate Argent was more than terrifying, “Right? Great surprise, Allison!”

Allison preened at the compliment and Stiles made a mental note to never let her plan a surprise party because she had a terrible concept of actual surprises.

“Who is she?” Lydia asked under her breath.

“The Argent part didn’t give it away?” Allison smiled.

Lydia rolled her eyes but still smiled, “Obviously she’s related to you, but I don’t know _how_.”

“I’m her aunt.”

Kate appeared out of nowhere, causing Stiles to jump in his chair. The surprise motion sent the stool wobbling and shaking towards the side closest to Kate. Kate caught him quickly, wrapping a hand around his bicep to steady him and squeezing just a bit too hard to be an accident. Kate’s hand lingered on his arm for a fraction of a second longer than socially acceptable and Stiles didn’t think he was imagining things when he felt the drag of Kate’s fingers skim across the exposed skin on his arm.

Kate sighed, “Let’s get the awkward parts out of the way first. Yes, I’m Allison’s aunt. No, that will not have a positive effect on her grades because I know how smart she is and that means I’ll expect more out of her than anyone else in this room.”

Allison groaned, dropping her head to the lab table and cradling it in her arms to hide the creeping flush on her cheeks as the rest of the class chuckled.

Kate continued, “I know I’m younger than most teachers here and while 36 is older in human years, I might as well be 17 in teacher years. That being said, I know my stuff. I have a bachelor’s degree from Berkeley and I’ve subbed here before, but that was quite a few years ago and I’m sure most of you were still more worried about recess rather than complex mixtures of compounds and solutions.”

The class laughed again and Kate grinned, she knew she was reeling them in and Stiles knew that they would be putty in her hands for the rest of the year if she kept this up.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road.” Kate said as she opened up a binder that was on Harris’, or rather, her desk.

“Apologies in advance if I butcher any of your names,” Kate said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder.

Kate went down the list slowly, as if she was trying her best to memorize everyone’s names and faces. The enter class laughed again when Kate made a joke about Allison obviously being absent from class. Stiles barely contained and eye roll and a quick glance towards Lydia out of the corner of his eye proved that she was barely containing an unimpressed look on her face.

Stiles knew there was a reason he’d been in love with Lydia for the last decade.

“Lydia Martin?”

Lydia raised her hand, prim and proper, “Present.”

Kate looked up, studied her a bit more intently than everyone before her, and then nodded with a smile.

Kate called out one or two more names and then, “Scott McCall?”

Stiles’ stomach dropped. He hadn’t even thought of that; what Kate would think about a student being absent the day after the full moon. Would she even put it together?

Kate looked around the room before quirking an eyebrow, “Scott McCall? McCall?”

Silence.

“Going once, going twice.”

“Scott is absent today,” Allison said quickly, “he wasn’t feeling well this morning.”

Kate narrowed her eyes at Allison, turned around and ran her finger across the calendar pinned to the wall behind her, and made an apprising sound when her finger lingered over todays date. She buried her face into her binder for a second, scribbling a note or two, and then went back to the class list.

Well, shit.

Stiles tried, as subtly as possible, to slip his phone out of his pocket. This didn’t feel like it was a situation where he could wait another hour until school ended to give everyone a heads up. In fact, Stiles wasn’t even entirely sure how he was holding himself together right now. It was entirely possible that he was only holding himself together so it wouldn’t lead to Scott, Derek, and Laura being horrible murdered.

Stiles managed to extract his phone and cradle it in his lap when he heard Kate reach his name on the attendance list.

“Mi…Mec…My…what the hell, kid?”

Stiles looked up, a little smug smile appearing on his face when he saw how utterly confused Kate looked while trying to read his actual name.

Stiles raised his hand, “That’s me. Just call me Stiles.”

Kate looked up, locking eyes with him for a second before she looked back down at the paper and write something on it, “Stilinski, like the Sheriff?”

Stiles heart skipped a beat, “The one and only. Best dad on the planet who’s always ready and willing to arrest anyone who deserves it. “

Kate scoffed, more of an annoyed laugh, ‘Right. Well, I’m debating on asking for a parent-teacher conference just so I can figure out why anyone on the planet would ever name their child something like that.”

The entire class let out a laugh and Stiles felt his entire body tense. He didn’t realize until his fingers started to tingle that he’d clenched both hands into fists.

Lydia was looking at from the side when Stiles spoke again, “My mother was Polish, I’m named after my grandfather. But sure, go ahead and call my dad in for that, I’m sure he’d love to take time out of his busy schedule to talk to you all about it.”

The entire class went eerily silent, so silent that Stiles could hear Lydia draw in a surprised and nervous breath next to him. Allison spun around in her chair, her eyebrows halfway up her forehead and firmly in the _‘what the actual fuck, Stiles?’_ position.

Stiles fumbled with his phone as sneakily as possibly, trying to get it unlocked so he could text Derek and Laura and urgent fucking SOS.

Kate pursed her lips for a moment and kept her eyes on Stiles, they were calculating in the most terrifying way and Stiles, not for the first time, wished he had the superpower to go back in time and erase the stupid things he said.

“Interesting.” Kate finally said with a slight nod.

The class was still silent as Kate rounded her desk and made her way through the classroom. The sound of Kate’s heels on the tile floor was the only sound in the room, aside from the beat of his own heart that Stiles could hear in his ears.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Kate walked deliberately slow and Stiles had yet another flashback to hours of late night Animal Planet and the sound of Oprah’s voice narrating Planet Earth as he fell asleep. Kate’s entire body moved when she walked, her shoulders curved and her hips swayed, and the way she seemed to slink down the aisle reminded Stiles of a jaguar.

Or, a terrifying human-jaguar hybrid. A werejaguar!

No, that was fucking stupid.

Stiles managed another look at Lydia just before Kate reached their table. Lydia’s eyes were wide and her lips were parted just a fraction of an inch as she seemed to focus on each of Kate’s steps, flinching ever so slightly each time a stiletto hit the floor.

Stiles only had half of a text composed to Derek when Kate came to a stop at their lab table, her manicured nails rhythmically tapping against the black table top. Stiles was unable to send the text, instead he quickly locked his phone and dropped it into his lap in hopes that Kate wouldn’t see it. She trailed her fingers across the table slowly until she reached the edge in front of Stiles. Her fingers slipped from the table and down towards Stiles’ lap, uncomfortably close to being in firm bad fucking touch territory and the invasiveness of the move made Stiles’ stomach churn. Kate’s index finger and thumb plucked Stiles’ phone from his grasp, her pinkie just barely making contact with his inner thigh. 

Stiles was stunned into silence at the brazenness of Kate’s actions. It was easy to see how she could have just decided to burn down a home with an entire family inside of it without worrying about the possible consequences after she’d veered dangerously close to just groping Stiles in the middle of a crowded classroom.

Kate was the most dangerous kind of crazy, the kind of crazy who just didn’t give a fuck. And with the way she was acting there was no way that she didn’t know something about Stiles’ involvement in refuting her statement to the police.

“You can have this back after class,” Kate said as she slipped Stiles’ phone into the breast pocket of her shirt, “In fact, it says in Mr. Harris’ notes that you still have a scheduled detention so why don’t we just get that out of the way today?”

Stiles swallowed audibly. He refused to open his mouth only because he didn’t trust what would come out of it.

The entire class snickered, no doubt amused by the fact that Stiles had so immediately gotten on the bad side of another chemistry teacher. The fact that no one noticed Kate’s actions was a testament to the fact that teenagers rarely paid attention to anything beyond the surface value. Even Lydia, who was almost always hyper aware, was still having some kind of internal freak out about what had happened in the hallway and wasn’t paying attention. Allison, meanwhile, was too busy glaring daggers at Stiles to notice anything else.

The last thing on the planet that Stiles wanted at the moment was to be left alone with Kate Argent.

 

X

 

“I sent Deaton the picture, he said he’d call me back in a few hours after he looked through some old books of his.” Derek said on the other end of the phone.

Laura rocked back and forth on her heels outside of the Sheriff’s Station, “Good. Good. That’s…”

“Good?” Derek echoed, slight amusement in his tone.

“Yeah,” Laura said as she ran a hand through her hair, “Sorry, I’m distracted.”

“It’s fine,” Derek said, “I get it. You’re at the Station.”

“Yeah,” Laura answered even though she knew it was a statement and not a question, “Anything I should be worried about? Kill anyone else? Maim anyone, even? Kidnap a small child?”

Derek hissed into the phone, “Laura! There are police around you!”

Laura laughed, feeling a little bit of the weight lift off her shoulders. Making Derek suffer uncomfortably always did a bit to lighten her mood.

“Relax, pup,” Laura said placatingly, “No one is going to arrest you. I’ll see you in an a little bit. You remember where to go, right?”

Derek sighed, “Yes, I’ll be there.”

“Good.” Laura smiled, “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Derek hung up first, as he usually did, and Laura slipped her phone into the pocket of her torn jeans. She took a deep breath, her hand hovering over the handle to the glass doors of the station, and pulled. The station was less busy than the last time she was there, which made sense because Laura assumed that nothing too crazy happened at almost 3pm on a Monday. Then again, this was Beacon Hills and there was possibly a magically controlled werewolf running around so who really knew for sure when shit would pop off?

“Laura.” The Sheriff’s familiar voice filtered from the hallway to Laura’s right.

“Sheriff,” Laura said, hooking her thumbs in her pockets, “long time no see.”

The Sheriff narrowed his eyes, “Not long enough.”

Laura would be hurt but the Sheriff did know about her galivanting around the forest with his son so she couldn’t hold his iciness against him.

“Derek says you’re ready to release my baby?” Laura smiled, trying to throw the Sheriff off by not being openly hostile.

The Sheriff was unfazed, which of course he was, “My office first, there’s something I need to ask you. I would have asked your brother this morning but he took off like a bat out of hell before I could get to him.”

Laura groaned inwardly, Derek had conveniently forgotten that piece of information when he’d rushed back to show her the picture of the rune he’d taken. Honestly, if Derek wanted people to stop thinking he was a serial killer then he needed to stop acting like one.

“Sorry, he doesn’t do well with hospitals.”

If all else failed, prey on the Sheriff’s heart. At least he still had one, Laura wondered about hers late at night sometimes.

The Sheriff frowned, his resolve cracking, and he scrubbed a hand over his face. It was something she’d seen Stiles do half a dozen times now and Laura wondered which of them it originated from.

“Understandable,” The Sheriff said quickly, “in any case I still need to ask you something.”

Laura narrowed her eyes, “Do I need a lawyer present?”

The Sheriff cracked a small smile, “No, it’s not that kind of question. I just need you to clarify something Derek said, since you were with him when he visited Peter.”

“Right,” Laura nodded and followed the Sheriff back to his office.

The Sheriff closed the office door behind him when they were both inside and crossed to the read of his desk, dropping down into the plus seat and folding his hands over top of the desk.

“Derek said you spoke to Peter’s nurse when you visited him?”

Laura cocked her head to the side, “Uh, yeah? One of them anyway, her name was Jennifer?”

The Sheriff’s eyebrows rose, “Jennifer? Are you positive?”

Laura nodded, there was no way she misread the woman’s nametag.

“Well, we have a problem then.” The Sheriff frowned.

“Which is?”

The Sheriff sighed, “I’ve spoken to everyone who’s worked with your uncle over the last two years. I’ve gone through Hospital employment records, candy stripers, and volunteers. There has never been anyone by the name of Jennifer who had any association with your uncle.”

Laura’s mouth hung open and formed a small o, “What?”

“I’ve double, then triple, checked. No one named Jennifer has ever officially worked with your uncle. There’s one nurse named Jennifer in the entire hospital and she works in pediatrics, five floors away from the long-term care wing.”

“That’s not possible.” Laura almost growled, “We spoke to her! She was wearing scrubs, she had a name tag, she smelled like the hospital!”

Fuck. Good job, Laura.

And she wanted to call Scott reckless and unsubtle.

The Sheriff cocked his head in confusion for a short second before schooling his face back to a more professional manner, “Then the woman you spoke to was lying to you, there was no way she worked at the hospital.”

“That’s not possible.”

Laura couldn’t elaborate on how it wasn’t possible, she couldn’t explain that she and Derek were essentially walking lie detectors and could tell when someone so much as smudged the truth.

If they were paying attention.

Which Laura wasn’t, because she was too busy focusing all her senses on Peter to try and figure out if he was faking his catatonia. Wow, Laura had been terribly off of her game in Beacon Hills.

“Fuck.” Laura sighed, “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

“It’s likely that this woman is involved in Peter’s disappearance,” The Sheriff said, “it would be helpful if you could sit down with a sketch artist and give him a description. It’s our only lead so far.”

Laura looked down at her watch and sighed, she only had 20 minutes to make it across town and meet Derek for their appointment. Plus, she didn’t exactly want to give up this woman’s identity to the police. Laura wanted to be the one to find her, especially if she was the witch they were looking for.

“Can I come back tomorrow?” Laura asked, “I have a packed schedule for the rest of the day, I didn’t exactly plan ahead for this when I set up a few meetings around town for this evening.”

The Sheriff narrowed his eyes, “Meetings?”

Right. As far as the Sheriff knew, she and Derek were supposed to be on their way out of town the second Laura got the Camaro back.

Laura ran a hand through her hair, “Full disclosure.”

The Sheriff made a sweeping, continue on, motion.

“Derek and I will be staying in town for a while,” Laura said quickly, “at least until Peter is found. Maybe even after, I wasn’t aware how many affairs my family had left behind here. We never really…looked back after we left. Being back here, remembering things and learning stuff I never knew has been difficult. But…I miss it.”

The Sheriff sighed, leaning his head back to rest against his chair, “I knew the two of you wouldn’t go so easily.”

“It’s not…” Laura trailed off, “we’re not going to cause trouble. That isn’t what I came for in the first place, things have just gotten out of hand. I never meant for Stiles to get wrapped up in anything. I’m sorry.”

The Sheriff leaned forward, “You’re not the one I’m worried about when it comes to my son.”

Laura clenched her fist, the urge to defend Derek almost forcing its way out of her body, “Derek would never…he would never hurt anyone. He’s big and likes to act tough but it’s just that, an act. It’s just him protecting himself. We’ve both been hurt, we’re fucked up and we deal with it in different ways.”

“May I remind you that I arrested your brother for murder less than 48 hours ago?”

“ _Suspicion_ of murder,” Laura clarified, “and on a false statement, no less. I wouldn’t ever tell you how to do your job but that seems like something you should possibly look into.”

The Sheriff’s eyes hardened, it was possible that Laura might have taken one step too far, “We’ve already had a conversation, the witness was very apologetic about the mistake and had been drinking just before they thought they saw Derek. It’s taken care of, forensics swept the apartment and there was no trace of your brother. You have the Beacon County Sheriff Department’s deepest apologies.”

The Sheriff quickly opened a drawer at his desk, reached in, and pulled out an envelope. He broke the seal and tipped a key out onto the desk. Laura quickly realized it was the key to the Camaro. The Sheriff placed his index finger on the key and slowly, and loudly, slid the key across the desk towards Laura.

“Have a good evening, Miss Hale.” The Sheriff said, “Stop by tomorrow, if you find the time, so we can set you up with a sketch artist.”

Laura was stunned into silence. The Sheriff was clearly angry, it was easy enough to tell even without enhanced senses. The Sheriff was rigid in his chair, his arms folded across his chest as he pointedly glared at Laura, then down at the key to the Camaro on his desk.

 Laura made a quick note to herself as she grabbed the key off the desk. Never the profession or ability of someone you actually like to do their job, no matter how pissed you are at them.

Laura specifically did not listen to the Sheriff after she left his office, she was sure she didn’t want to hear what he’d have to say about her now that she was gone. She quickly made her way out of the station and around the back of the building, coming to a stop at a small booth next to a chained in portion of the parking lot.

“This is the smallest impound lot I’ve ever seen.” Laura said with a lopsided grin.

The man at the booth, Deputy Parish his nametag read, looked up at Laura with wide eyes. He was cute, if a bit baby faced, and Laura didn’t ignore the spike of attraction in his scent when they made eye contact. It was refreshing for once to not smell basic lust, but something more well intentioned.

Deputy Parrish continued looked up at Laura from his seat. He blinked a few more times before Laura decided to put him out of his misery.

“I’m here to pick up my car,” Laura said, pulling the key out of her pocket and dangling it over the desk, “the Camaro right up front.”

“Right!” Parrish snapped to attention and began fumbling around through a drawer in front of him, “Shit, sorry. I know the key is in here somewhere.”

Laura waited at least another two minutes before Parrish finally found the key. She couldn’t find it in herself to be annoyed with the wait, it was pretty damn entertaining watching the poor guy becoming increasingly panicked as he tried to find the gate key.

“Found it!” Parrish laughs, holding the key up triumphantly, “Sorry, this is my first week and this is the first time anyone has come back here the entire time.”

Laura leaned against the small window, unable to resist some light flirting, “Why would they put someone as pretty as you all the way back here?”

Parrish turned a shade of red that Laura didn’t even know a human could turn and sputtered, “It’s the most boring job here…uh, no one ever wants to do it.”

Laura laughed as Parrish stepped out of the booth and over to the gate to unlock it. He held the gate open for Laura as she walked through and then pulled it back further, so she’d have enough room to drive out.

“Nice car, by the way.” Parrish said.

“Thanks,” Laura smiled, “it’s even nicer now that they know I didn’t kill anyone in it.”

Parrish’s eyes went wide.

Laura cackled, “Seriously, I told them the blood didn’t belong to a person!”

Parrish looked a little terrified and a little turned on, Laura decided she liked it.

The Camaro looked the same from the outside, but Laura had to take a step backwards and cover her nose when she opened the door, the car absolutely reeked of bleach and other chemicals.

“Christ,” Laura muttered, “this is going to take forever to air out.”

Parish was looking at her curiously from across the lot, so Laura gave him a small wave as she slipped her sunglasses on and got into the car. The first thing she did after stating it was roll every single window down and then turn the AC on full blast to get fresh air circulating through the vehicle.

Laura smirked and waved at Parrish as she pulled past him and out of the parking lot, leaving a blushing Deputy in her wake. Nothing was going to come of it, but it was still nice to know that she still had it, it’d been comically long since she’d gotten anything from anyone.

The chemical smell of the car started to clear out by the time Laura made it across town. It took a little under 15 minutes for Laura to make it from the Station, which was in the heart of the downtown area, to the older historic district of the city. The more modern buildings slowly faded away and were replaced with older, weathered brownstone’s and warehouses.

Laura found Derek leaning against their shitty rental car, glaring at the sidewalk and ignoring the poor realtor who was standing right next to him. They were in front of an old apartment building, it was in fine shape, but it was easy to see why most residents had abandoned the building for the more urban parts of the city.

The low number of neighbors was a plus for Laura, the less people around to butt into their business the better.

“Miss Hale,” the realtor smiled, “I’m glad you made it, I was starting to get worried.”

Derek scoffed. Laura glared at him.

“Sorry, I got held up for a few minutes longer than I thought.”

“Not a problem! I have the keys right here, so we can head inside and take a look.”

Laura shook her head, “No need, we’ll take it.”

The realtor actually took a surprised step back, “What? You don’t want to see it?”

“Nope, we’ve already seen the pictures and it’s exactly what we’re looking for.” Laura smiled and pulled out her check book, “I’ll pay in advance for the next six months if that’s OK?”

The realtor recovered quickly, to Laura’s surprise, “You can, but you should know that this apartment requires a one-year lease.”

Laura sighed, “OK, fine. I’ll pay for the year in advance. Any deposits I need to know about?”

The realtor cocked her head to the side, “Not unless you have any pets.” 

Derek let out a surprised laugh. Laura glared at him again.

“No, no pets. Just an annoying brother.”

The realtor looked at Derek, and then back at Laura, “Right. Well…I do have paperwork in my bag, so I can draw everything up really quick and then as long as your check clears you can move in today.”

“The check will clear,” Laura said, “I promise.”

There was more than enough money in the account, money that she and Derek hated to spend unless it was entirely necessary. She’d managed to talk Derek into renting an apartment for the rest of their time in Beacon Hills so they could have their own space and not be on top of each other in an uncomfortable motel room. They both knew that it would require them to use some of the money from after the fire, but it was unavoidable unless they wanted to live in the burnt-out shell of their old house or something equally as terrible.

Laura pretended she didn’t hear Derek when he made an offhand comment about camping out at the abandoned train station just outside of town.

Honestly, what the fuck was wrong with her brother sometimes?

“I still need to run the check, just to make sure.”

“I understand,” Laura said, “do you mind if my brother and I head up by ourselves though?”

The realtor shrugged and held out the key to Laura, “It shouldn’t take me long to run the check.”

Laura grabbed the key, and then grabbed Derek by his elbow, and made her way inside the building. She led Derek to the elevator and jammed the button.

“You’re extra sulky this afternoon,” Laura said, “wanna talk?”

Derek shrugged, “Everything with Peter…I’m just anxious.”

Laura frowned, “I know, but there’s not much we can do until Deaton calls us back.”

Derek let out a soft growl and changed the subject, “Why did you pick this place?”

The elevator doors opened, and Laura stepped inside with Derek and hit the button for the top floor.

“It’s two apartments converted into one, so that means more space so we’re not on top of each other. And the price is a steal.”

Derek scoffed, “Someone was probably murdered in it.”

Laura hummed, “You’re right, I bet we could get Harris’ apartment for dirt cheap, let’s go there instead!

Derek rolled his eyes and let out a long-suffering sigh, elbowing Laura and causing her to stumble towards the other side of the elevator. She glared at him until the elevator reached the top floor and stuck out her foot to trip Derek as he stepped out of the elevator.

“Really mature.” Derek mumbled as he stumbled a few steps forward.

Laura gave him a smug grin as she passed him to unlock the door to their new apartment.

The apartment smelled fresh, clean but not in an overly chemical way. It hadn’t been lived in for a few years though, that much was obvious. Laura was happy with that part, it meant there would be less work for them to do to get rid of the lingering smell of other people.

The top floor of the apartment held the basics. There was a nice kitchen, obviously recently renovated. A nice sized dining room sat to the side of the kitchen, backlit by floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the preserve behind the building. The living room was large enough for a nice couch and a good TV. There was a single bedroom at the end of the hall, which Laura would claim for herself.

The stairs led down to the floor below them, winding in a small spiral down to the apartment directly below. The kitchen had been removed in that one, replaced with a large open space that Laura honestly had no idea what to do with. There were two bedrooms on this floor, a larger one that Derek would take and then a second one which could become an office of some sort. If either of them actually did something that would require an office.

It was a nice space, large and inviting but still small enough that she and Derek would feel close without being on top of each other. There was room for Scott and Stiles to lounge around if they wanted, maybe the third bedroom could be made up for one of them if they ever needed a place to go.

Laura let out a low whistle, “I like it. What do you think?”

Derek shrugged, “It’s OK. Needs a lot of furniture.”

Laura nodded, “I know, I’ll take care of it.”

When Laura turned around again she saw Derek leaning his head against the large windows and looking out into the preserve with a frown on his face. Laura’s shoulders dropped as she walked over to him, placing a hand in the center of his back and rubbing small circles.

“I know you don’t want to be here,” Laura said softly, “I’m sorry. You know you don’t have to stay, right? You can always go back to New York if it gets to be too much for you here.”

Derek shook his head, “I wouldn’t…I couldn’t leave you.”

Laura wrapped her arm around Derek’s shoulder, pulling him in close for a hug.

“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” Derek said, his voice muffled by the top of Laura’s head, “It hurts all the time…but it’s manageable. There’s things about this place that aren’t terrible.”

Laura laughed, “Like a certain someone you seem to be getting close to?”

Derek growled, “Shut up. It’s not like that.”

“Really?” Laura teased, “I saw you checking your phone today! You never check your phone, in fact you normally go out of your way to _not_ check it! What changed about your phone other than that certain someone having your number now?”

“We’re not talking about this.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Laura rolled her eyes and pushed Derek away, “Go downstairs and check out your room you big loser.”

 

X

 

Scott sprawled out along the couch with a bowl of soup his mom made him before leaving to go to the store. The soup was a welcomed surprise after he discovered he had no appetite the morning after the full moon. He’d slept all day, which helped when his mom came in trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

She took one look at Scott, frowned, and let him sleep.

It was kinda awesome.

Still, ever since Scott woke up all he’d done was walk around the house bored. There was a standing rule in place that if he was too sick to go to school then he was too sick to play videogames and nothing good ever came on TV during the day, so all Scott had to do was reflect on the last few days.

Dude.

He was a _werewolf_.

He thought he would freak out or maybe be a bit angry and Stiles for dragging him out into the woods but neither of those came. Instead, he was excited. He could already feel the changes, he could run for more than five minutes without collapsing to his knees, he didn’t have to worry about his mom having to spend any of the money that they didn’t have on expensive hospital visits or medicine. Maybe it would help him with lacrosse?

“Fuck.” Scott whispered to himself as he remembered the promise he’d made to Laura.

Scott had done a pretty good job at avoiding thinking about Allison all day. There was no way he could wrap his head around Allison being a killer, it just didn’t make sense. He knew Allison, knew what kind of person she was and the things she talked about. No one who killed werewolves for a living would volunteer at the animal shelter three times a month!

Kate, on the other hand, Scott knew they weren’t lying about. Laura had quickly taught him how to tell if someone was lying by listening to their heart and seeing if their pulse faltered. She’d told him it was almost foolproof since people could control their faces and any nervous twitches but couldn’t control their pulse.

Laura wasn’t lying when she told him about Kate and what she’d done to their family. Allison had only ever mentioned Kate a few times, she’d talked about her being her wild aunt who lived life whatever way the wind blew her and travelled the world just looking for fun things to do. They didn’t sound close, Allison never mentioned disliking her but said that they’d never really spent an extended amount of time together so maybe Allison just didn’t know that Kate was crazy?

Maybe Allison found out about her family’s life and didn’t want any part in it? Maybe she disagreed with their treatment of werewolves and could try to change their minds? Maybe, if forced, she would choose a werewolf over them?

The Allison that Scott knew was gentle and kind and he just couldn’t see her willingly killing anyone, regardless of what her family thought of them.

Someone knocked on the front door, drawing Scott out of his own mind, and he almost broke his neck when he turned his head to look at the door. The only two people who regularly used that door, his mom and Stiles, didn’t knock.

Scott hopped up from the couch, jumping over the back of it just because he could, and made his way to the door. He looked out the peep hole and froze because Allison was standing on the other side of the door.

Scott jumped away from the door as if it had burned him and began to pace in a nervous circle. Why was she here? What would she say? Was she really a psycho killer and did she already put two and two together and come to murder Scott in his doorway?

Scott shook his head and wiped his sweaty palms on his old Looney Toons pajama pants, and what a great outfit to be wearing the first time Allison ever comes to his house, and opened the door.

“I’m mad at you!” Allison said, glaring as Scott.

“Me?!” Scott gasped, “Why? What did I do?”

“You weren’t at school today!” Allison said, looking at Scott intently for a few seconds before her face broke and she began to giggle.

“Huh?”

Allison’s laughing grew louder, “Oh my god, you should see your face!”

“My face?” Scott cocked his head to the side.

Allison’s face softened when she looked back up at Scott, “I’m not mad at you dummy, I came to bring you the homework you missed.”

“Oh,” Scott said dumbly, that made a lot more sense than Allison coming to kill him.

Allison pulled a folder out of her bag and handed it to Scott. Scott opened it and leafed through all the papers before looking back up at Allison, “These are from all of my classes...we only have two together.”

Allison blushed, brushing some of her hair forward to try and hide it. Scott’s eye went wide as a gust of wind blew from behind Allison and he was hit with the most amazing thing he’d ever smelled in his entire life.

Scott couldn’t even begin to describe it, it smelled like honey and peaches, like some rare spice, like the woods after a soft rain. She smelled…perfect.

“I might have gone to all of your teachers after School to find out what you missed,” Allison said, kicking at a random pebble on the front porch, “didn’t want you to fall behind because you were, and I quote Stiles, leaking all over the place.”

“What?” Scott gasped, “I wasn’t _leaking_!”

Allison laughed, “Yeah, you don’t look very leaky.”

Scott grimaced, “Can we stop talking about me leaking?”

“Please.” Allison smiled, “Is it safe for me to come inside or are you actually contagious?”

“Uh,” Scott mumbled, “I should be fine…my mom will be home soon, and she’ll probably kick you out but yeah, come inside.”

Scott stepped aside and let Allison though the door. She paused in the entryway, doing a small spin to take in what parts of the house she could see.

“Welcome to Casa McCall,” Scott shrugged awkwardly, “it’s kinda messy right now.”

Allison rolled her eyes, “It’s nice, I like it. I can’t believe I’ve never been inside before.”

“Do you want anything to drink?”

Allison shook her head, “I’m fine.”

They stood in front of the door for a few awkward seconds before Scott swept him arms to the side, “The living room is over here.”

Allison smiled and walked in the direction that Scott was pointing, “I’m glad you’re feeling better. Think you’re going to make it to school tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Scott nodded, “mom checked me out when she got home, she said it’s probably just a stomach buy that’s been going around.”

Allison laughed, “In that case, I’m glad you didn’t come today.”

Scott grinned as they sat on opposite ends of the couch, Allison tucked her feet under her legs and let her head fall to the back of the couch. Scott was hit with that scent again and all he wanted to do was crawl across the couch and rub his nose against Allison’s neck.

What the fuck?

“So!” Scott coughed awkwardly, “Did I miss anything exciting at school?”

Allison perked up and grinned, “Actually, you did. I was a bit bummed when I realized you weren’t going to be around for Chemistry, I had a cool surprise.”

“A surprise?” Scott raised his eyebrow, “in Chemistry?”

Allison nodded, chewing on her lip, “I might know our new Chemistry teacher.”

Scott leaned back, “We have a new Chemistry teacher?”

Allison nodded slowly, “Because…”

“Oh!” Scott slapped his forehead, “Right, Mr. Harris. Yeah. Cool. Well, not cool. But.”

Allison laughed again, crawling forward to rest her hand across his forehead, “Are you sure you don’t have a fever?”

Scott froze, Allison’s touch sent shockwaves through his body. She was so close, close enough to just grab and kiss and smell and…

“You do feel a little warm,” Allison said, “maybe I should go?”

“No!” Scott snapped back to attention, “No! It’s fine, I’ve just been laying under blankets all day. Not contagious, I promise.”

Allison looked a little skeptical but decided to drop it, “If you say so.”

Scott changed the subject, “Tell me about the new Chemistry teacher! How do you know him?”

Allison settled herself back in her previous spot, “It’s actually a her.”

“Her?”

“My aunt Kate,” Allison said, “She’s our new Chemistry teacher until the end of the year.”

Scott felt all the air leave his body. It was different than an asthma attack, he felt this overwhelming pressure in his chest that he couldn’t see to get around.

“That’s…” Scott managed to find the words, “That’s…cool.”

“Yeah,” Allison said, not noticing that Scott was having an internal freak out, “I think Stiles is cursed when it comes to Chemistry teachers though.”

That knocked Scott out of his freak out, “What? Stiles?”

Allison sighed, “He and Kate didn’t…make the best first impression on each other.”

Scott leaned forward, suddenly feeling the need to throw himself out the door and find Stiles as quickly as possible, “What do you mean?”

“Kate has a weird sense of humor,” Allison said, “she made a crack about his real name, which I still don’t even know by the way, and I guess it upset him because he got an attitude and sorta threatened Kate with his dad?”

Scott’s jaw dropped, “Jesus, Stiles…what the fuck?”

Scott wanted to strangle Stiles after making sure he was OK. No. He had a better idea, he’d tell Laura and then Laura could strangle Stiles.

Derek would probably strangle Stiles too, but Scott wondered if Stiles would like that part.

“Yeah,” Allison hummed, “it was a bit awkward. Then she caught him with his phone and took it from him and gave him detention.”

“Detention?” Scott’s eyes went wide, “When?”

“To be fair, she didn’t give him detention. She was just making him serve one of the ones Harris gave him, she’s probably just trying to make a point that she won’t go easy on anyone even if they’re my friend.”

“When was the detention for?” Scott asked again.

“Now,” Allison said, “she told him to stay after class and since it was the last one of the day I guess she’s making him serve it now.”

“Stiles is alone with Kate right now?”

Allison nodded slowly, “Yes.”

Fuck. Shit. Crap. Damn. Hell.

Scott needed to do something, he had to get to Stiles or get to Laura to tell her. It could all be a crazy coincidence, Stiles could have just mouthed off at Kate because he knew who she was, but it still didn’t sit right with Scott. It was too big of a coincidence.

Scott reached for his phone and then bit back a groan when he remembered it was upstairs. He couldn’t think of a way to race off upstairs to grab it without making Allison suspicious.

“He’ll survive,” Allison shrugged, “Kate will probably end up apologizing to him for the crack about his name, she’s really not a mean person.”

Scott could only smile and nod.

Allison looked at him intently for a few seconds, “Are you sure you’re OK? You look a little pale.”

Scott coughed, “I…I don’t know. Maybe? I feel kinda dizzy.”

Allison frowned, “Ugh, I probably shouldn’t have come over. Of course, you’re not recovered after a few hours.”

“No, it’s not you,” Scott shook his head, “I just haven’t really eaten all day and you’re the only person I’ve talked to other than my mom so I’m just a little…”

“Overwhelmed,” Allison laughed, “I get it. I need to get home soon anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Scott nodded as Allison stood up from the couch, “Yeah, I’ll be there. Hopefully.”

Allison laughed and pushed Scott lightly when he tried to stand up from the couch, “You rest. I can show myself out.”

“Thanks for the homework.” Scott called after her as she disappeared around the corner.

Scott waited until he hard Allison’s car door close to get off the couch, and then until he heard her turn off at the end of the street to run up to his room using his newfound speed.

It took a few seconds for Scott to find where he’d thrown his phone earlier that morning but when he found it he unlocked it with trembling hands and called Laura.

Scott didn’t give her time to speak when she answered the phone, “We have a problem! Kate is the new Chemistry teacher at school and she gave Stiles detention.”

Laura was quiet for a second, “Scott, slow down. What does that mean?”

Scott growled, “It means Stiles is alone with Kate right now!”

There was a sound of glass breaking on the other end of the line, then the muffled voices of Derek and Laura arguing.

“Derek!” Laura yelled, “Derek! Stop!”

“Laura?” Scott asked, “Laura? What’s happening?”

“Derek just took off,” Laura said quickly, “Scott, I have to go. Stay home. Let us take care of this.”

Laura hung up the phone and Scott sat on his bed with no idea what to do.

 

X

 

“I think we got off on the wrong foot.”

Kate was sitting on top of her desk, her legs crossed at the ankles. She was leaning back with her hands resting behind her and her head tilted up to the ceiling as if she was sunbathing.

It was all very ‘come hither’ and Stiles wasn’t buying any of it.

“Sorry about earlier,” Stiles said, deciding to try and play along, “I didn’t mean to be a dick, I just don’t like when people make fun of my name. I know it’s a mouthful but still.”

Kate looked at him with a soft smile, “I have to be honest, I’m still getting back into teacher brain mode. It’s been years since I last took a substitute job.”

“You said you’ve worked here before?”

Kate laughed and hopped down from the desk, “Years ago, it almost feels like a lifetime.”

Stiles filed that one away, it shouldn’t be too hard for him to find records of when Kate taught at Beacon Hills High. She wasn’t old enough to teach there before everything went digital and even then, there were always yearbooks.

That would be his next project, if he made it through detention alive. 

“I’m not evil,” Kate said with a hint of amusement in her voice, “I’ve heard stories about Mr. Harris. Not that I would ever speak ill of the dead but…”

“He was a dick.” Stiles supplied, figuring if he kept Kate talking about anything else it would give her less time to try and pick him apart.

Kate laughed, “You said it, not me. Anyway, I like to think I’m not a dick.”

Stiles shrugged, “I get it. First day and all, gotta show the kids who’s boss.”

Kate winked, and it made Stiles’ skin crawl, “I do like to be the one calling the shots.”

“I’m used to it,” Stiles shrugged again, “I’ve had more detention in this room than I can remember.”

Kate cocked her head to the side, “You don’t look like a troublemaker, you look like more of a Bambi than anything. A cute, defenseless little deer just learning to walk.”

Stiles barely suppressed a cringe, “What can I say? I’ve got a big mouth, it gets me in trouble a lot.”

Kate’s eyes flicked to Stiles’ lips for a millisecond, “I bet it does.”

Jesus Christ, where was Chris Hansen when you needed him?

Kate pulled Stiles’ phone out of her pocket and held it between her fingers, “Password lock, huh? That’s smart, you never can be too careful these days.”

“Yep,” Stiles popped the p, “I’ll gladly take it off your hands though.”

Kate smirked and sat his phone down on the corner of her desk, “You can have it when you leave, wouldn’t want you to get distracted or anything.”

Stiles laughed, fucking hell Kate was a bad cliché of an after school special.

“So, how long have you been in town?” Stiles asked.

Kate shrugged, “I got in a few days ago.”

“You were here before Harris died?”

Kate nodded, turning her back to Stiles and erasing the white board, “I was just going to visit for a few days, then Harris died, and my sister-in-law mentioned me to the principal as someone who could take over at the last minute, so I guess I’m here until the end of the school year.”

Stiles nodded even though Kate couldn’t see him, “Well, I promise to be on my best behavior for the rest of the year. No more detentions.”

Kate dropped the eraser on her desk and walked towards Stiles’ table. She came to a stop next to it and leaned her hip against the table, her body forming a diagonal line as she looked down at Stiles. Kate’s fingers toyed with the silver arrow head around her neck, brushing over the small purple flower that was embedded in the center of it. She let go of the necklace and let her hand drop to the table, skimming over the black top and settling close enough to Stiles’ hand that he had to pull it away so they didn’t touch.

“We’ll see about that.” Kate smirked.

Stiles’ reply was cut off by a loud crash from outside the classroom. Kate’s entire body tensed, and her head swung towards the door like she was looking for a threat.

They were both quiet for another few seconds, the only sound in the room was Stiles’ heart pounding in his own ears, and then the fire alarm went off. The shrieking siren startled Stiles, causing him to jump in his seat and almost knock it over.

The lights were flashing on the wall and Stiles looked up at Kate who was looking around the room with a mixture of annoyance and confusion.

“I don’t think it’s a drill,” Stiles said, “it’s after school hours.”

There’s no reason the school would do a fire drill after classes ended so there was either an actual fire or it was something else.

Something like a diversion Stiles realized as he saw his phone light up on Kate’s desk.

It lit up again and buzzed with another incoming text, moving a few inches from being left on vibrate. Stiles got up from the table and slung his backpack over his shoulder, he maneuvered his way around Kate and quickly snatched his phone off her desk.

He had two texts from America’s Most Wanted.

Stiles didn’t wait for Kate or look back to see if she was leaving the room behind him. He moved quickly down the hallway, keeping his head down and waiting until he was a safe distance away from Kate’s room before unlocking his phone and reading both of the texts he’d gotten from Derek.

**From America’s Most Wanted: You’re safe. I’m watching you.**

**From America’s Most Wanted: Front Exit. Get in your car. Go home. Don’t stop for anything.**

Stiles looked over his shoulder and broke out into a job when he didn’t see Kate behind him. There were only two other cars in the parking lot besides his and Stiles made a beeline for his jeep. He opened the door quickly and there still wasn’t any sign of Kate when Stiles made it to the jeep and cranked the engine. He didn’t want to see if she would show up before he pulled out of the parking lot.


	13. Kill V. Maim (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so it's been two weeks and i'm super sorry! everything has been so body that i've barely had any time to write! full disclosure, this is only half of an actual chapter but i didn't want to have to wait any longer to post something so i took half of the already written chapter and split it at a decent stopping point so i could at least have something to put out so there could at least be something to read. 
> 
> again with the running warning about kate, stiles' thoughts about what happened last chapter, derek's thoughts about what happened between him and kate when he was younger, and his skewed view on it where he blames himself for everything

 

 

 

 

Chapter Thirteen

Kill V. Maim (Part One)

 

Stiles was more than relieved when he pulled up to his house to find the driveway free of the Sheriff’s cruiser, he knew he was a little high strung from Kate and his dad would have been able to pick up on it right away. He sat in the driveway for a few extra seconds, drumming his fingers against the wheel and trying to get the memory of Kate’s fingers trailing across his thigh out of his head. Just the simple thought of it unsettled him, made something inside him twist with uncomfortable anger.

Stiles let out a sharp laugh and let his head drop towards the back of the seat. He was being stupid. Kate didn’t actually do anything, right? She just got a little handsy, and not even the type of handsy that she could be arrested for, really.

Stiles shook his head and hopped out of the jeep, he didn’t want to think about it anymore tonight and since he didn’t have chemistry tomorrow he could at least try to not think about being in a room with Kate for at least another 24 hours. He just wanted to go inside, take a shower, eat something unhealthy before his dad got home, and then go to bed early.

The house was quiet once Stiles let himself inside and he kicked off his shoes and dropped his bag by the door. He wouldn’t be doing any homework tonight, so it wasn’t like he needed to lug it upstairs with him. Stiles quickly galloped up the stairs and opened the door to his room.

Stiles should have been surprised to find Derek leaning against his desk with the window open behind him, but he really wasn’t. If anything, Stiles would have been disappointed if he didn’t find Derek in his room.

Stiles leaned against the door frame and sighed, “What would you do if I started locking that window?”

“Sleep better at night.” Derek huffed.

Stiles rolled his eyes, as if Derek ever thought of him at night.

They were both quiet for a moment, an uneasy silence settling between them when it was obvious that neither of them knew what to say first.

Stiles thought for a few seconds before speaking, “Nice thinking with the fire alarm.”

Derek busied himself by going through the notes sprawled out on Stiles’ desk, “I accidentally ripped it off the wall.”

Stiles let out a surprised laugh, “That’s what that sound was?”

“I wasn’t paying attention,” Derek mumbled, “I wasn’t watching my strength. I went to pull the fire alarm and I ripped it out of the wall.”

“No big deal,” Stiles shrugged, “it worked, and it gave me a reason to not have to go back afterwards, the school can’t really fault me for evacuating during a fire alarm.”

Stiles stretched his arms over his head and let out a small groan before walking over to his bed and dropping down into it, sprawling himself out over the blankets.

“Hey,” Stile said a second later, “how did you know I was there? I tried to text you, but Kate took my phone before I could send it.”

“Scott called Laura after Allison told him what happened in class.”

“Allison was with Scott?” Stiles cocked his head to the side, “God, so much shit happened today I don’t even know how to process anything anymore.”

Derek’s head snapped up towards Stiles, “What did Kate do?”

“Huh?” Stiles locked eyes with Derek, his eyes were glowing blue.

“What happened?” Derek repeated, his voice low, “What did she do? Did she touch you?”

Stiles felt him heart jump, “What? No.”

Derek walked over to the bed, “You’re lying.”

Stiles shook his head, “What the hell? No, no we’re not doing the whole invasive lie detector thing dude, it’s not cool. Kate didn’t hurt me, we weren’t even alone together that long.”

Derek clenched his fists, “I didn’t ask if she hurt you, I asked if she touched you.”

Stiles swallowed as he thought of Kate’s hands on him, he really didn’t want to get into this right now.

“I can smell her all over you,” Derek whispered, walking closer and colliding with Stiles’ legs where they hung off the bed, “I…she’s dangerous, Stiles.”

Stiles ran a hand across his head and scrubbed the back of his neck, “I know, I get it. Listen, Derek, dude, she didn’t hurt me. She wasn’t going to hurt me, I think she just wanted to freak me out.”

“Tell me everything.” Derek said, taking a step backwards after realizing how close he’d gotten.

Stiles let out a small breath, grateful that Derek gave him a few extra feet of room to breathe. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Derek around, it was the opposite actually, but after everything that happened during the day Stiles would be lying if he’d said he didn’t want to just have to space to himself.

“Kate did not physically harm me,” Stiles said, trying to keep his voice even and hoping that a lie of omission didn’t register on Derek’s super lie detector, “she dropped some hints about my dad, somethings that made me think that she knows that I’m the one who refuted her statement. She called me Bambi, implied that I was in over my head. She…she picked up on Scott not being in class and took the time to look at the calendar to check the date.”

Derek’s eyes were still glowing in the dim light of the room.

“This is all my fault, I never should have let you get this deeply involved.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes, “You didn’t _let_ me do anything, Derek. I could have run the other way and forgotten about all of this, but I didn’t. I was there when Laura told Scott about all the dangerous shit that comes along with this and I still chose to stick it out. I stayed for Scott, because he’s my best friend. I stayed for Laura, because she’s awesome. And I stayed for you, because you’re pretty decent and looked like you could use a friend. So don’t go there with the guilty conscious stuff, please.”

Stiles saw Derek’s lips turn up slightly, “Pretty decent?”

Stiles shrugged, smirking a little, “You’re a little rough around the edges but I can tell there’s something under there.”

Derek huffed out a dry laugh.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, mostly just looking at each other awkwardly, until Derek spoke again.

“Laura is doing some training with Scott out in the preserve.”

Stiles nodded, he had a vague memory of Scott mumbling something about it earlier this morning, but it had slipped his mind until that moment.

“You should train too.”

Stiles blinked a few times before bursting out into laughter, a full body laugh that rolled through his body and threw him off balance so much that he had to brace himself on the mattress before he fell off the bed.

Derek’s eyebrows where pushed together in a tight line when Stiles looked back at him, “What’s so funny?”

“Dude!” Stiles laughed, “You saw me get brained by a lacrosse ball! You’ve seen me trip and fall on my face no less than four times in the last two days! You really think it’s safe to give me any kind of training?”

“It’s safer than you not having any kind of training at all,” Derek huffed, “if you’re going to be involved you should know how to protect yourself.”

Stiles flailed his arms above his head, “And what are these pale noodles supposed to do to fight off the Rougarou or any other wolf?”

Derek sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “There’s other things than wolves. There are hunters, there’s Kate.”

“I’m pretty sure Kate could kill me before I lifted a fing- “

Derek moved across the room so quickly that Stiles’ eyes didn’t even register he was gone from his previous spot until Derek was in front of him, both of his hands clasped on Stiles’ shoulders, and looking like he was just barely containing the desire to shake Stiles until his brain rattled on the inside of his skull.

Derek loosened his grip a little, relaxing his hands until they were softly settled on Stiles’ shoulders rather than holding him firmly in place. Stiles wondered if he should be scared, an actual werewolf had just flown across the room to grab him after all, but there was a kind of delicate vulnerability to Derek’s touch that Stiles knew it was probably the only way that Derek knew how to convey the seriousness of whatever Derek was feeling at the moment.

Stiles looked up at Derek, there was only a two or three inch difference between them, but Derek suddenly seemed a foot taller from the angle they were both at, “Derek?”

“You’re not going to die,” Derek said, “don’t say that. She won’t kill you, I won’t let her.”

Oh.

Well, Stiles was an asshole who liked to make flippant comments about being murdered by the woman who _actually_ murdered Derek’s entire family.

“I’m sorry, shit. I didn’t mean…”

Derek shook his head, “She scares you. I get it. She scares me too, but I’m not going to let her hurt anyone ever again. Not Laura, not Scott, and not you. She’s not hurting anyone, even if I have to rip her throat out myself. It was my fault I didn’t stop her last time, I won’t let it happen again.”

Derek’s eyes were glowing blue again and Stiles found himself lost in them, he wanted to lean in and look at them up close to see just how they did what they did, to see how they’d look when there were only inches between their faces.

Stiles shook his head, those weren’t the kind of things to be thinking about right now.

“Your fault?” Stiles frowned, “Derek, she was an insane hunter who came out of nowhere…there’s no way you could have known what she was going to do.”

Derek clenched his jaw and finally removed his hands from Stiles’ shoulders and shoved them deep into his pockets, “You don’t…it doesn’t matter.”

Derek turned his back to Stiles and moved towards the window, he had one foot on the roof before Stiles finally found his words again.

“Wait,” Stiles said awkwardly, “I…don’t go?”

“I have to meet Laura,” Derek said as he stepped out onto the roof, “Scott knows where to go, ride with him if you’re coming.”

And just like that, Stiles watched as Derek jumped from the lip of his roof to the branch of the large tree in their backyard, climbing down quickly and disappearing into the edge of the woods. Stiles let out a sigh and dropped his forehead against the glass and was left wondering why Derek literally ran away from half of their conversations.

 

X

 

Derek was more than relieved when he made it back to the new apartment and got a text from Laura letting him know that she’d just left to go set up the training area for Scott out in the preserve. He was glad to be momentarily spared from the lecture she was sure to give him about running off into situations alone.

Sure, he could have waited with Laura and came up with a plan before rushing off to the school but none of that registered in the moment. Knowing Kate, the entire thing it could have been a trap. But even if that was the case, Derek still would have rather gone in alone than with Laura because if he’d been captured it still would have left Laura on the outside to help him. If they’d both gone and gotten taken their only hope would have been Scott.

All Derek had been able to think about when he overheard Laura’s call was the fact that Stiles was alone with Kate. Derek hadn’t felt that level of fear and anger in years, he’d almost forgotten what it felt like. Jesus, he was so angry that he lost control and ripped a fire alarm off of the wall. At least he didn’t use his claws, the school would just think that it was a fucked-up prank by a bored kid and hopefully Kate would just write it off and wouldn’t look too far into it.

Kate.

Fucking Kate.

Derek could still smell her, the scent that lingered on Stiles was so strong that it had even rubbed off on himself. It made him sick to his stomach. Derek rushed to the kitchen and turned the sink on, grateful that Laura had decided to go to the store and buy soap for some reason. Derek scrubbed at his hands until they were bright red and smelled overwhelmingly of fake lemongrass and chemicals that burned his nose. Whatever, at least it was better than Kate.

Sighing, Derek turned from the sink and made his way downstairs to the lower level of the apartment. He walked through the empty space that used to be a living room and made a note of the space on the wall that was painted a slightly different shade of white than the rest, realizing it was the spot where the front door to the old apartment used to be, and made a note to go out to get paint so it wouldn’t bother him.

A project sounded nice, something easy to take his mind off of everything and that didn’t involve homicidal maniacs and magically cursed werewolves.

Derek opened the door to his room and stopped just short of entering when he saw the inflated air mattress in the center of the room. It was done up with a few plush pillows and a blanket that looked softer than anything Derek had slept on in the last few months. There was a wooden crate next to the bed with a note nailed to it that was covered in Laura’s delicate handwriting, _until we can get to Ikea_.

The suitcase’s in the corner of the room caught Derek’s attention and he turned to them, pulling out a fresh set of clothes to change into before meeting Laura out in the woods. Kate’s scent was mostly gone from his skin, but he could still catch a stray smell from where it had settled on his clothes. Derek walked out to the kitchen and pulled out a trash bag and threw the clothes he was wearing inside of it, tying it off and throwing it near the foot of the stairs. He didn’t even want to try and wash them. Derek didn’t even know where the trash bags came from, or the blow-up mattress for that matter, Laura had only been alone in the apartment for about an hour.

Derek threw the bag against the wall, slamming his hand down on the counter before letting out a strangled growl. Why the fuck was he wondering how Laura had gotten everything done?

He let out a bitter laugh, he knew exactly why. Derek was using anything he could think of to distract himself from the thought of Stiles being left alone with Kate. If Derek focused he could still hear the stutter of Stiles’ heartbeat when he said Kate didn’t do anything to him, he could see the brief flashes of fear that crossed Stiles’ face when he thought Derek wasn’t looking.

Stiles wasn’t lying when he said Kate did hurt him though, not that it meant anything. Derek knew all too well the kind of pain and damage Kate could inflict on someone without drawing a single drop of blood. After all, Kate still haunted Derek to this day and she never physically hurt him either.

It was almost enough to make Derek vomit, the thought of Kate doing anything to Stiles that was similar to what she did to him. Derek’s only consolation was that he knew that nothing went that far, he knew that if it did he’d have been able to tell and there was no way he could have stopped himself from going into that classroom and ripping Kate’s throat out with his bare hands, regardless of who was around to witness it.

Derek would just add it to the list of things Kate would pay for when he finally got his hands on her.

Stiles though, Stiles was turning out to be more than Derek expected. Everything Derek had taught himself over the last six years was screaming for him to push Stiles away, to put a stop to whatever was happening, and to let Stiles know that he was someone who didn’t belong in the situation they’d gotten themselves into. But then Stiles would smile, or make some stupid joke, and Derek would feel that resolve crack inside of him.

Something about Stiles made Derek feel content, like maybe the entire world wasn’t filled with humans who were fucking terrible. It had been so long since Derek had wanted to trust anyone but Laura and here he was, wanting to trust this sarcastic asshole who’d all but strong armed his way into being pack.

Derek wasn’t stupid, as much as Laura would like to disagree. He knew that Stiles was attracted to him, he could see it in the way Stiles looked at him sometimes, or in the way that Stiles would lean into the smallest of touches. He discounted the arousal at first because high school tended to do that to everyone, but it had become prevalent when they were alone together. Shockingly, it didn’t bother Derek all that much because Stiles never acted on it. Stiles never made a lurid sexual comment or tried to touch Derek in any way that would make him uncomfortable, he just existed with it and acted like everything was normal between them.

It was one of the reasons that it hurt Derek so much when Stiles insisted that nothing Kate did was his fault. Stiles had no idea about his relationship with Kate, he’d said as much when he made the comment. Stiles had no idea that Derek let Kate take advantage of him because of his grief over Paige, that he let Kate do whatever she wanted because it made him feel like someone cared about him after the death of the girl he loved.

Derek let Kate use his body and Kate used him to kill Derek’s entire family.

Derek knew that Stiles would be disgusted by him, just like he knew that Laura would never forgive him if she knew. It was a bone deep understanding that if either of them ever found out, it would ruin everything. Laura would hate him, she would scream and cry because Derek was the one who killed their entire family. It would make Stiles sick to his stomach, he’d know that Derek was damaged goods and would wonder how he’d ever wanted anything from Derek in the first place.

The phone buzzed on the counter and drew Derek out of his thoughts. He turned to look at it, sighing when he saw a text from Laura asking him where he was at. He replied and let her know that he was on his way before stuffing the phone in his pocket and heading out the door to meet Laura.


	14. Kill V. Maim (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been 84 years.gif 
> 
> hi. i promise i wont disappear for that long again. anyway, same warnings for the kate of it all. enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Fourteen

Kill V. Maim (Part Two)

 

Stiles drummed his fingers against the wheel of the jeep.

“How did you get your mom to let you out of the house?”

Scott shrugged, “I told her I missed a lot today and that you were going to help me study and catch up.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow, “And she believed you?”

“Hey!” Scott looked offended, “Just because I don’t put in as much effort as you or Lydia doesn’t mean I don’t care about my grades! She said she was very happy that I cared enough to drag myself to the library after being sick all day.”

Scott was beaming, he looked exceptionally proud of himself for making his mother happy. Stiles didn’t have the heart to tell Scott that he mother was proud of a lie since instead of the library, Scott would be in the woods learning how to fight from two werewolves.

Stiles simply reached across the seat and clapped Scott on the shoulder, “What time do you have to be home?”

“I told her that you and I would get something to eat after studying so she told me to be home by nine.”

Stiles glanced down at the clock on the jeep’s radio, “That gives us four hours of wolfy training if we plan to leave by eight and actually get something to eat.”

“You don’t think they’re going to feed us?” Scott frowned.

Stiles rolled his eyes and made the turn down the road to the preserve. Scott was quiet for a few minutes as he hung his head out of the window, making it impossibly hard for Stiles to keep back the dog jokes that were slowly beginning to overflow in his brain.

“Thanks, by the way.” Stiles said.

Scott turned his head towards Stiles, “For what?”

“For calling Laura, telling her about Kate.”

“Oh,” Scott shrugged, “it was no big deal, of course I’d call her.”

“Derek said you were with Allison,” Stiles grinned, “you gave up Allison time to save me from being murdered?”

Scott rolled his eyes, “I doubt Kate would have murdered you in the middle of the Chemistry lab.”

Stiles shrugged before taking a left down a back road, “I don’t know dude, she’s majorly creepy. Bad vibes all over the place.”

Scott cocked his head at that, “What happened? Did she actually do something?”

Stiles swallowed, the only person he wanted to talk about Kate and her creepy hands with less than Derek was Scott.

“She didn’t hurt me,” Stiles said, hoping the bit of truth would cover up any other lies if Scott had worked on honing his invasive lie detector powers, “she’s just a creep.”

Scott seemed to study Stiles for a few minutes, and Stiles felt like he could hear the gears turning in Scott’s brain before he spoke, “Well, at least we don’t have her class tomorrow.”

“True.” Stiles smiled, “Oh, dude! Derek told me he wants to teach me to defend myself.”

Scott’s laughter echoed through the jeep, “Oh my god, Derek is going to teach you how to fight someone? You can barely walk up a flight of stairs without tripping.”

“That’s what I said! But then he got all,” Stiles slowed to a stop and held up his hands, curling his fingers into a terrible proximation of werewolf claws, “grr-argh, you must learn how to protect yourself from the forces of darkness!”

Scott side eyed him, “Those were his exact words?”

“Close enough.” Stiles mumbled, “Where are we going exactly?”

Scott leaned his head out of the window again and inhaled deeply, “Stop here, we’re close.”

“Dude, did you just try to smell for Laura and Derek?”

“Laura said I had to find them by tracking her scent,” Scott said, “Why did you think I’ve been sticking my head out of the window?”

“Because you wanted to feel the wind in your hair?”

Scott rolled his eyes and punched Stiles in the shoulder. Which, fucking ouch.

“Dude!” Stiles yelped, “That’s totally going to leave a fucking bruise!”

“Oh my god!” Scott lunged forward and pressed his hand lightly against Stiles’ shoulder, “Dude, I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean to!”

“Hey, hey,” Stiles dropped his voice to the most soothing tone he could come up with, “Hey, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Just…try not to beat me up anymore, OK? You know I bruise like a peach.”

“Fine,” Scott huffed, “as long as you don’t tell Laura.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and flicked Scott on the shoulder, “Fine."

Stiles put the jeep into park and hopped out, waiting for Scott to round the front and lead him to wherever Derek and Laura were waiting. Scott angled his head towards the tree line and started walking, Stiles fell into step behind him and carefully kept his eyes on the surrounding trees just in case anything decided to try jumping out at them. There was still a bit over an hour left of daylight but Stiles hadn’t had the best of times in the woods lately so who would blame him for being a little more cautious?

They walked for a few more minutes until they came to a stop in a small clearing not too far off from where they parked the jeep. Stiles breathed a small sigh of relief at the fact, the jeep was within human running distance on the off chance that things decided to get spooky.

Laura was leaning against a tree on the opposite end of the clearing, her claws extended as she checked them over in way that creepily mirrored Lydia after a fresh manicure.

“Too slow,” Laura said without looking up from her claws, “you could have gotten here at least a minute faster, Scott.”

“Hey!” Scott wined, “I had Stiles with me!”

Laura still didn’t look up from her claws, “And Stiles couldn’t run?”

Stiles sputtered, “Excuse me? Why does Stiles have to run?”

Laura let out a short sigh, “ _Stiles_ is part of the pack, even though you’re a human you still need to keep up with a modified version of Scott or Derek’s training. I’ve explained the dangers of being in the pack, and you’ve seen it first hand with the Rougarou and Kate. There’s not always going to be a pack member around to protect you, we’ll die trying to if we’re there but we both know that won’t always be the case. It’ll give everyone peace of mind to know that you can at least run a mile or two without passing out.”

Stiles stood rooted in place, as far as speeches go it was a pretty damn good one. It tied in with Derek wanting Stiles to be able to defend himself, and for the first time he got the sense that Laura truly cared about him. He knew she liked him, or at least tolerated him because he came in a package deal with an actual werewolf, and that she would prefer if he didn’t meet a grisly death, but it wasn’t until that moment that Stiles really understood the gravity of it.

“Ok, yeah,” Stiles nodded, “I can step it up in lacrosse practice too.”

Derek silent stepped out from behind a tree, which was slightly fucking creepy, “I’ve seen your lacrosse practices, they’re not going to help with anything.”

Laura laughed, “We can work on stamina next time. Derek mentioned that he brought of the idea of you learning a little self-defense?”

Stiles groaned, “Did he also mention that I laughed in his face?”

Laura glanced at Derek with a conspiratorially raised eyebrow, “You know, he forgot to mention that.”

Derek seemed torn at who to glare at between Laura and Stiles, so he compromised by glaring at the space directly between both of them.

Stiles kicked a stray rock closest to his shoe, “So, what? Is Derek gonna Mr. Miyagi me? Wax on, wax off?”

Laura tilted her head towards the sky, the fading sunlight that was filtering through the trees catching a dangerous glint in her eyes, “Oh no, Derek won’t be doing anything. You’re all mine.”

Stiles felt his eyes go wide as he stared at Laura who was pulling her hair behind her head and tying it up in a tight pony tail. Derek pushed himself off of the tree next to her and flashed Stiles a wicked before stretching his arms behind his head.

Stiles’ eyes tracked Derek’s shirt as it moved up his stomach, unsubtly catching a glimpse of defined muscle and a light dusting of hair that disappeared into the waistband of Derek’s jeans. Scott’s sharp elbow to his side drew Stiles out of his gaze.

“Seriously?” Scott muttered under his breath.

“Scott!” Derek barked, “You’re with me again today.”

“I don’t get to learn how to fight?” Scott all but whined.

Laura threw a water bottle at Stiles, which bounced off his chest and rolled across the ground when he failed to catch it, and turned to look at Scott.

“There are things you need to work on before anyone teaches you how to fight, you need to learn how to use your newly enhanced senses before anything else. We could teach you how to throw a punch, but it would all be useless in your first real fight because you’d be overwhelmed with everything that was happening. Derek’s going to teach you how to quit your senses and how to turn certain things down while highlighting another.”

“Derek’s basically going to make me run around a lot and then yell at me, isn’t he?”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Basically. Let’s go, I want to get a few basic lessons in before sundown.”

Derek was gone in the blink of an eye, Stiles turned to his left in time to see Scott take off in a blur after him and was left standing alone in the middle of the woods with a rather intimidating Laura Hale.

Laura reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of fingerless boxing gloves and tossed them at Stiles. Stiles caught them this time and flapped the gloves around while looking at Laura with a cocked head.

“You’re supposed to put them on.” Laura said, already sounding exasperated.

Stiles nodded, slipping the gloves on his hands and tightening them around his wrists. “What’re you teaching me? Karate?”

Laura lifted her leg and grasped her foot, pulling it behind her back in a complicated stretch, “Kickboxing.”

Stiles blinked, “Kickboxing?”

“Did I say something different the first time?” Laura narrowed her eyes.

“No!” Stiles yelped, “No…I just don’t get why I’m learning kickboxing in the middle of the woods when there’s a perfectly nice 24-Hour Fitness downtown that would happily teach it to me.”

Laura moved quickly, leaving a cloud of dust where she once stood, and circled around Stiles. Stiles gasped in pain as Laura wrenched his arm behind his back and went breathless when he felt a pair of clawed hands lightly close around his throat.

“By all means, feel free to go down to Becky and her online certification at 24-Hour Fitness If you think she’s more equipped to teach you how to defend yourself from something like that.”

Stiles stumbled forward as Laura released him, tripping over a rock in front of him and falling towards the ground. He was stopped midway down by Laura’s hand on his arm again, though this time the grasp was much gentler.

Laura hoisted Stiles up, setting him gently on his feet before taking a step backwards and smoothing down her shirt.

“A little intense there, Laura.” Stiles mumbled nervously.

Laura’s eyes locked with Stiles and Stiles could see the hint of sadness in them before she spoke, “My mom was intense when it came to this stuff. As soon as we could walk she’d have us running any kind of self defense drill she could think of.”

“Wow.”

“I’m sure it sounds weird, a mother teaching her children to fight at a young age,” Laura laughed softly, “but there was always so much danger out there. She never taught us to fight with the intent for us to hurt people, but she always said that she’d be dammed if she sent out into a world that was constantly trying to kill us without any way for us to protect ourselves.”

Laura took a deep breath and continued, “Everyone in the pack learned how to fight, the humans who stuck around and joined the family were given lessons on how to protect themselves from hunters and other wolves. Hell, even the few witches we had in the immediate family learned how to take someone or something down with more than just a fireball.”

There wasn’t much Stiles could say to that, Laura just wanted him to be able to take care of himself and it was something he could respect. It resonated with him too, he thought back to the classroom with Kate and how utterly powerless he would have been to stop her if she tried anything. He thought about what he could have done to get out of the room if Derek hadn’t shown up. The fact of the matter was that Stiles was pretty weak and defenseless and that wouldn’t cut it anymore, not with the while new world of strange and terrifying things he’d gotten himself involved in.

Stiles bounced back and forth on his feet in a poor imitation of that one Rocky movie he’d half payed attention to when he watched it with his dad, “Alright, where do we start?”

Laura smiled, “I want you to hit me.”

Stiles jaw dropped, “What?”

“Hit me,” Laura shrugged, “I need to know if you can throw a punch.”

“Why do I have to hit you?” Stiles exclaimed, “Can’t I just hit a dummy or something?”

Laura shook her head and winked, “Derek isn’t around right now.”

“I really have to hit you?” Stiles frowned, “You’re like made of marble! What if I break my hand?”

Laura rolled her eyes, “You’re wearing gloves, Stiles. As long as you don’t tuck your thumb in your first before you swing you’ll be fine.”

Stiles took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, curling his hand into a fist and swinging at Laura before he could overthink it. The padding of his golves connected with Laura’s jaw with a small thud. Laura’s eyes were wide as she lifted her hand up to touch the spot where Stiles’ fit connected.

“You hit me in the face.”

Stiles took a step backwards, his hands held defensively in front of him, “You told me to hit you!”

Laura shook her head, “No! It’s fine! I just…didn’t expect you to go for my face. I thought you’d wuss out and hit me in the shoulder or something.”

Stiles scoffed, “Stiles does not wuss out of anything.”

Laura leveled him with a look, “Stiles will never speak in third person around me again.”

“Anyway!” Stiles changed the subject, “How did I do.”

Laura hummed thoughtfully, rubbing at her jaw again, “Better than I expected, you’ve got a nice follow through so there’s a solid foundation for you to build off. We’re going to work on defense first before we move to offence though.”

“Right.”

Stiles listened as Laura explained the basics of kickboxing, nodding along with a smile every time she went off on another tangent about how what she was doing was completely different than cardio kickboxing that housewives take before they pick their kids up from school.

Laura’s teaching style was easy enough for Stiles to latch on to, she’d demonstrate a move a few times before showing Stiles how to do it in slow motion. She’s leave Stiles to practice it on his own, watching from the sides and offering critiques or criticisms. Then, after she was satisfied he’d gotten it down she’d try to come at Stiles in varied ways to see if he could adapt the move she taught him into any situation.

Stiles had down well for the most part, though he’d ended up on his ass more than a few times and Laura didn’t catch he before he fell. By the end of their two-hour session Stiles felt like he’d gotten off to a good start. He certainly wasn’t ready to take on any fights with a hunter or the Rougarou, but he’d wager that he could probably knock Jackson on his ass if he caught him off guard. Not that he would, because Laura would be mad, and the thought of a mad Laura was terrifying.

Derek and Scott still weren’t back by the time Stiles collapsed on his ass and rested against a tree, but Laura said she could still hear them running around deeper in the woods. Scott was apparently bitching about everything and Laura said Derek hadn’t stopped growling for the last half hour.

“He sounds like a purring kitten, honestly.”

Stiles laughed as he unscrewed the water bottle that Laura had tossed him, his hands were still a little unsteady, but he counted it as a win since he didn’t throw up like the first time he’d had lacrosse practice.

Laura sat on the ground next to Stiles, her legs crossed under her and he head tipped up towards the sky that had slowly filled itself with stars, “How are you?”

Stiles was taken aback, “I’m…fine?”

“Was that a question or an answer?”

Stiles thought for a moment, “It was a verbal shrug.”

Laura laughed, “Understandable.”

The silence stretched between them for a few moments before Stiles spoke again, “Kate scares the shit out of me.”

Laura tilted her head to the side, her ponytail falling over her should and swinging behind her back. She seemed to be studying Stiles, drinking in the truth of his words.

“She scares me too.”

“She...”

Stiles trailed off, he thought about telling Laura about his detention. He thought about telling Laura how uncomfortable Kate had made him, how she came dangerously close to crossing a line that Stiles didn’t even know how to react to. Laura seemed to be the safest option to tell, he didn’t feel the crushing weight of embarrassment that he did when he thought of telling Derek.

“She what?”

Stiles took a deep breath, “Don’t tell Derek.”

Laura leaned forward, “Stiles, what’s wrong?”

Stiles turned his head back to the woods, but Laura stopped him with a soft hand on his shoulder, “He isn’t listening, he’s too focused on Scott. I won’t tell him anything you don’t want me to.”

“It’s nothing,” Stiles tried to laugh, “it’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” Laura shook her head, “whatever it is, it isn’t stupid. I could tell you were bottling something up, but I wasn’t going to make you tell me…but I’m here if you do want to.”

Stiles look down at the ground, absentmindedly digging his fingers into the dirt in front of him. Laura was there and willing to listen and Stiles knew he needed to get it off of his chest before he let the events fester in his mind.

“She was…” Stiles sighed, “Let’s just say she would win the award for the bad touch teacher of the year. Kinda. Well, the almost bad touch teacher of the year. The plausibly deniable bad touch teacher of the year.”

“Stiles…” Laura’s voice was barely above a whisper, “Did she…”

“No,” Stiles said quickly, “she didn’t _do_ anything. I don’t even think she wanted to, she just came uncomfortable close to touching things I’d rather not have touched by a mass murderer.”

A sharp cracking sound from Stiles’ side startled him. He looked over to find Laura, half wolfed out with red eyes, with her arm elbow deep into the solid oak tree they were sitting near.

“I’m going to fucking kill her.” Laura snarled, “That piece of shit, useless waste of a fucking life. I’m going to rip her to fucking pieces for everything she’s done.”

“Laura…”

“No!” Laura growled, “It doesn’t matter how she touched you, she did it and you didn’t want it. It’s just as bad as anything else, she’s not going to get away with it. She’s not going to get away with what she did to my family, what she did to you, what she did…”

Laura took a deep breath, her features slowly returning to normal. She pulled her arm out of the trunk of the tree and scrubbed a hand down her face.

“I’m sorry she did that to you.” Laura said softly.

“It’s fine,” Stiles shrugged.

Laura shook her head, “It’s not fine, you don’t have to pretend to be fine.”

Stiles’ reply was cut off by his cell phone buzzing in his pocket, he pulled it out to find his dads name flashing across the screen.

“Fuck.” Stiles hissed before answering, “Hey, daddio.”

“Stiles,” his dads voice sounded tired and wary, “Where are you?”

“I’m out with Scott, why?”

“Go back to Scott’s house, now. Don’t leave unless I come to get you myself.”

“What?” Stiles stood up from the ground and began pacing, “Dad, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” his dad lied before sighing, “fine, you’re going to hear it on the news before the night is over, I’m sure. Something happened downtown at the video store.”

“What?”

“Someone’s dead, son. I need you and Scott to go straight home, don’t answer the door for anyone who isn’t me or Melissa.”

Stiles looked over his shoulder at Laura, her head abruptly shot to the darkened tree line just as Stiles told his dad he was heading home with Scott.

A deep, wild roar tore through the woods just as Stiles ended the call with his father.


	15. Into the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is basically three different sections all covering things that happen at the same time. i don't think it's too hard to follow but just a heads up if you get confused!

 

 

 

 

Chapter Fifteen

Into the Woods

 

The roar traveled across the forest like a bullet, it was a wild and savage sound like nothing Derek had ever heard before. Derek could tell it was the same creature as the other night, the Rougarou, _Peter_ , but there was something else about it. Something in the way it sounded was different from the other night, it was more frenzied, more powerful.

It was angry.

Scott stood to attention in the middle of the clearing he shared with Derek. Derek could see the hairs on Scott’s arm begin to raise, and the slight tremble to Scott’s hand when he looked out at the vacant blackness in front of him.

Scott was scared.

So was Derek, but he knew they had to move quickly. They didn’t have time to be scared, not when Laura and Stiles were far closer to the beast than he and Scott.

“Scott!” Derek snapped, “Pull it together!”

Scott blinked a few times, his eyes flickering between their normal human color and his Beta gold, before he seemed to remember where they were.

“Was that?” Scott asked.

“Yeah,” Derek cut him off, “it was the Rougarou. It’s here.”

A gust of wind blew through the woods, far colder than was usual for the time of year, and Scott tipped his head in the air, his nose following the breeze.

“Why does it smell like that?” Scott began to cough and swipe at the air in front of him as if that would eliminate the smell.

Derek was used to the smell of the Rougarou by now, it felt like it was burning his nose from the inside out, but it was easy enough to ignore while he focused on his other senses.

Another roar rang through the forest, and this one was followed by a sharp howl. Derek and Scott both stood at attention as the howl echoed around them. It was the howl of an Alpha, Laura calling them for help.

“Come on,” Derek said to Scott before taking off running towards the last place he’d seen Laura and Stiles.

Scott fell into step with Derek a few moments late, though Derek could tell he was struggling to keep up with the faster pace.

“What do we do?” Scott asked.

Derek weaved through the trees and vaulted over a fallen log before answering, “You focus on Stiles, get him and yourself to safety. Leave Peter…the Rougarou to Laura and I.”

“I can help,” Scott insisted, “that thing kicked both of your asses last time! I’ll get Stiles out of there and then come back for you two!”

“No!” Derek growled, “You’re not ready, there’s no way you could even dream of fighting it.”

Scott opened his mouth to protest but Derek cut him off, “Scott, you’d just be in the way. Get Stiles out of there and focus on keeping him safe. That’s your only job.”

Scott looked like he wanted to argue but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Derek broke into the clearing first, skidding to a stop to take in the state of the fight.

The Rougarou stood in the center of the clearing, its towering frame casting a shadow across the ground. It was hunched over, claws extended, and ready to attack. Derek could see several long claw marks on it’s flank, they were deep red and ragged. Laura had already gotten a few good hits in, not that it surprised Derek at all.

Laura stood a few feet away from the Rougarou, she hadn’t gone for the full Alpha shift this time and instead it looked like she’d settled on something that was halfway between Alpha and Beta. Laura’s face was slightly elongated and gave off a look that was more canine than human. Her feet were bare, and all her nails had shifted into claws longer than Derek’s in his Beta shift.

Derek had never seen Laura in this shift and he was surprised by it, he could barely keep track of Laura as she darted around the Rougarou, landing a hit with every available opening. It seemed like she lacked the brute strength of her Alpha form but made up for it with incredible speed.

Scott sped into the clearing a moment later, coming to a stop right behind Derek.

“Stiles!” Scott yelled.

Derek’s eyes shifted to Stiles’ position, he was wisely keeping himself out of the immediate range of the Rougarou, but he was frantically searching the ground, no doubt scrambling for something he could use as a weapon.

Laura looked up as she heard Scott’s voice, but so did the Rougarou.

The Rougarou took advantage of the opening and reeled it’s arm back before slamming it into Laura’s sternum. Laura let out a sharp cry of pain as she flew through the air, and Derek winced when he heard the telltale crack of a rib breaking.

“Laura!” Stiles yelled, drawing the Rougarou’s attention to him.

The Rougarou bounded forward towards Stiles with a snarl. Derek pushed Scott out of the way as he watched Stiles stand frozen in fear while the Rougarou reached out for him with its claws. The Rougarou drew it’s arm back to swipe at Stiles but Derek made it just in time.

Derek grabbed Stiles and spun him away from the attack. Derek wrapped his arms around him, cradling him in a protective shield as the Rougarou’s claws dug into his back. Derek growled in pain as he felt the claws sink into his skin, pulling through his back slowly and tearing away skin, muscle, and fragments of bone.

A growl from the opposite end of the clearing signaled Laura’s return to the fight. Derek heard her pull the Rougarou away from he and Stiles more than he saw it. Derek used the brief moment to pull Stiles over to Scott and gently release him onto the ground.

“Derek,” Stiles said softly, out of breath, “fuck, are you OK?”

Derek shrugged, which proved to be the wrong move, “It’s fine, I’m already starting to heal.”

Derek could feel his skin slowly stitching itself back together and knew he’d be fully recovered by the time he rejoined Laura in the fight.

“What do we do?” Stiles asked.

“You run,” Derek said, lightly showing Stiles in Scott’s direction, “run and don’t fucking come back. That thing will kill both of you if you do.”

“I’m not leaving you!” Stiles said.

Derek swallowed a bit of blood that was left in his mouth, he could already see a faint bruise starting to form on Stiles’ leg, along with a cut on his forehead, and it put in perspective how vulnerable Stiles really was.

“You can’t do anything here!” Derek snapped, “You’re just a small human, what’re you going to do? Are you going to talk the Rougarou to death?”

A flicker of hurt flashed across Stiles face and Derek wanted to kick himself, he was always saying the wrong fucking things. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.

“Do what I told you, Scott.” Derek ordered, “You’re not far from the jeep, just get to it and go home. Laura and I will be fine.”

Laura’s body flew past Derek’s head right as he spoke, colliding with another tree a few feet away. Laura was already on her feet before she even made impact, and she rolled to the side before darting over to Derek.

“Both of you, go!” Laura growled, her eyes flashing red, “That’s an order!”

Scott had no comeback for that, he only nodded and grabbed Stiles by the wrist. Derek watched as they made it into the woods, listening as Stiles shouted his protests along the way. The Rougarou’s head tracked them but Derek tackled into the beast, drawing its attention back to himself and Laura.

Derek shoved his claws into the Rougarou’s chest, pulling them downwards. The Rougarou grabbed Derek by the neck and flung him through the air. He just barely missed colliding with Laura.

Laura helped him up and braced herself against his shoulder, “Any plans?”

Derek laughed, shaking his head, “You’re the Alpha, you make the plans.”

“Right,” Laura nodded, “new plan, we kick its ass.”

“What if it’s Peter?”

Laura worried her lip between her teeth, stopping when she accidentally bit herself, “We’re not going to kill it…him. I’d say capture him, but we don’t have anywhere to hold him, or any way to move him if we do knock him out.”

“Deaton’s?” Derek offered.

“I don’t think it would hold him for long,” Laura sighed, “we just need to give Scott and Stiles enough time to escape and then we draw him away from the town.”

“Right.”

Derek lunged forward, tackling into the Rougarou again. He dodged the beasts’ claws as it swiped at him, keeping it distracted while Laura scaled a nearby tree. Laura dropped down on the beast, dragging her claws down its back before kicking it in the back of the knees and toppling it to the ground.

Derek went to pounce on the Rougarou again, but it rolled across the forest floor, just barely dodging Derek. The Rougarou scrambled to its feet and jumped into the tree above it. Derek and Laura watched as the Rougarou dashed trough the trees, not in an attempt to hide itself, but in an attempt to confuse the two of them.

“Where did it go?” Derek shouted.

The clearing was too littered with blood and the smell of Stiles and Scott for Derek to be able to track it properly. It sounded like the Rougarou was in multiple trees at once, as if it was breaking off branches and throwing them into other trees as a distraction.

Laura was tackled to the ground as the Rougarou launched itself out off the tree behind her. She screamed as the beast dug its claws into her stomach and tried to tear her apart.

Derek had to remind himself that if the Rougarou was Peter than he was being controlled by someone else, he couldn’t possibly be trying to kill Laura of his own volition.

Laura was able to free one of her pinned legs and drove her knee into the Rougarou’s chest, breaking a few of its ribs in the process. The Rougarou released her, rolling onto its side and howling in pain.

Derek moved quickly towards the Rougarou, his claws extended, ready to take advantage of its momentary weakness. He was stopped by something shooting in front of his face.

The object flew through the air, whistling as it went by. Whatever it was came dangerously close to striking Derek, only missing his neck by a mere few inches. A soft thunk echoed through the darkness as the object buried itself in the trunk of a tree. Derek’s eyes followed the path the object had taken, and he froze when he realized what it was.

An arrow.

“Get down!” Derek shouted, jumping towards Laura and pulling her to the ground just as a volley of arrows was unleashed on the clearing. They flew through the air, three at a time, and landed in a perfect line leading up to where Laura and Derek lay on the ground. Another arrow landed a few feet away and blinked once, twice, three times before erupting in an explosion of light.

The bright flash of light seared Derek’s eyes, and Derek felt the skin around them begin to sizzle. He blinked but couldn’t make out more than a vague approximation of what he’d normally be seeing. Laura was laying a few feet away, mostly shielded from the blast.

“Derek!” Laura’s voice crept through the ringing in Derek’s ears, ‘We’ve got to go, hurry!”

Derek felt, rather than saw, Laura lift him off the ground and drag him into the woods. The trees were fuzzy, the ground a formless blob, and Laura’s face looked like it was behind several dirty windows.

“I can’t see,” Derek rasped, “what’s happening?”

“Hunters,” Laura whispered, “I count four near us.”

“Kate?” Derek growled.

“I don’t know,” Laura said, pulling Derek behind a tree, “I can’t pick anyone specific out, there’s too much going on.”

“What did they do to my eyes?” Derek said, his voice growing frantic, “I can’t see, why isn’t it healing?”

The blob that Derek supposed was Laura’s face came closer through his hazy vision, “The flash bang had wolfsbane in it. It’s not enough to kill you but it’s delaying the healing around your eyes.”

It was almost poetic, Derek thought. His eyes were what ruined their lives all those years ago, those traitorous eyes that saw Kate Argent for the first time and couldn’t stop searching for her in the crowd.

“You’ll be fine, but we’ve got to get out of here. Now. We need to find Scott and Stiles.”

Fuck.

“What about the Rougarou?”

Derek felt Laura shrug, “It got away in the confusion, I don’t know if they were hunting it or us. Stiles got a call from his dad right before it showed up, someone was killed in town. I think it was the Rougarou.”

“If it’s Peter…” Derek trailed off.

“If it’s Peter then he’s being controlled by that witch, we’ll figure it out. The only thing we need to focus on right now is finding Scott and Stiles.”

“And not getting shot.” Derek added.

“That too.” Laura said as she hefted Derek up by the shoulders and began moving them through the woods again.

 

X

 

“Cheater,” Stiles mumbled, trying in vain to dislodge Scott’s grip on his hoodie, “Stupid super strength.”

Scott sighed and tightened his grip, “I’m sorry, dude. It was an official command!”

“So what, if Laura got all glowy with the red eyes and told you to jump off a bridge you would?”

“Laura isn’t going to ask me to jump off a bridge, “Stiles.”

“That wasn’t a no.”

Scott continued walking, pulling Stiles along by the hood of his hoodie, and Stiles tried to ignore the sounds of fighting he heard off in the distance. It was almost impossible to do so, there were all kinds of sounds drifting through the trees. Growls, screams of pain, howling, all of it playing on a loop in Stiles’ head. He felt just as useless as Derek thought he was.

Stiles pushed the thought from his head, the dark woods in the middle of a magical werewolf attack was not the place to wax-depressive about his feelings when it came to Derek. Stiles might be an emotional train wreck, but damn if he didn’t know how to compartmentalize.

“Where did you park the Jeep again?” Scott asked, looking around the darkened woods in confusion.

Stiles came to a stop, “Don’t tell me you got us lost.”

Scott kept walking, pulling a stumbling Stiles along with him, “We’re not lost…I just don’t know where the Jeep is.”

“How do you not know where the Jeep is?” Stiles yelped, “You have super senses!”

“That I don’t know how to use!” Scott glared at him, his eyes flashing yellow, “It’s not my fault!”

“Your job was to protect me! Protect the stupid, squishy human! Now we’re lost in the woods in the middle of a werewolf attack!”

Scott let go of the hoodie, “Don’t go anywhere, I’m going to try to smell the Jeep.”

“Smell?” Stiles gaped, “What does she smell like?”

Scott hummed thoughtfully, “Like…Mountain Dew and wet dog.”

Stiles’ jaw dropped, “That last part is _totally_ on you.”

“Just be quiet,” Scott whisper-shouted, “I need to concentrate.”

Stiles mimed zipping his lips and leaned back as casually as possible onto a nearby tree. He could still hear the sounds of the fight in the distance, but it wasn’t nearly as loud as before. He hoped that meant Derek and Laura were winning.

A loud howl rang through the air, startling Stiles, and then everything went quiet. Stiles pushed himself off of the tree and turned to face the direction he and Scott had come from. The woods were eerily quiet now, the only sound coming from the snapping of twigs beneath Stiles’ feet as he walked away from Scott.

And then there was an explosion.

The sound ripped through the preserve like a stone disturbing the peace of a still body of water. Stiles leaped backwards as if he was afraid that whatever the blast was could reach him from where he stood. He stumbled, his feet not cooperating with the rest of his body, and fell to the ground. Stiles yelped as his palm caught a stray stone, slicing deep into the flesh and drawing blood.

“Stiles!” Scott yelled, running up behind him and hoisting him to his feet.

“You heard that too, right?” Stiles asked, slightly afraid that he’d gone insane.

“Yeah,” Scott nodded, “it sounded like an explosion.”

“I don’t think Laura had any grenades in her bag,” Stiles said, “I’m worried.”

“I…” Scott trailed off, “We should listen to Laura and go back to the car.”

“Something just _exploded_ , Scott! They could be laying there, alone and hurt!”

“You hard Laura earlier, whatever it is we’re just going to get in the way.”

Scott’s eyes flashed golden again, a cheap intimidation tactic now that Stiles had seen Laura do the same, albeit in a much scarier fashion.

Stiles shook his head, “Dude, I know you’re freaked the fuck out, I am too, but we need to do something! I can’t just sit here and wonder if Derek just got himself blown up! I’m going back there, and the only way you’re going to stop me is if you throw me over your shoulder and drag me back to the car against my will and I really hope you won’t do that to me buddy, because I don’t think we could come back from that.”

Scott blinked, dumbfounded, “That’s…really manipulative, dude.”

Stiles’ reply was cut off by a sharp, searing pain in his upper arm. It all happened so fast that he barely had time to process it in the moment. One second, Stiles was readying a sarcastic retort to Scott, and the next, Stiles was looking down at the newly missing chunk of fabric and skin on his arm.

Stiles let out a scream, falling to the ground and clutching his arm. It was almost as painful as that time he’d broken his foot in fifth grade by jumping off the swings at the park.

Stiles clutched his hand to his arm, wincing as blood began to seep through the cracks in his fingers.

“Stiles!” Scott rushed over to Stiles, dropping to his knees.

“What…the fuck…was that?” Stiles rasped, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth to try and block out the pain.

“Someone shot you!” Scott yelped, “Who the hell shot you?”

“That didn’t feel like a bullet,” Stiles breathed, “it felt like a really fast knife.”

“How do you know what a bullet feels like?” Scott asked.

“Well, I know it doesn’t feel like getting cut by a really fast knife!” Stiles tried to sit up, accidentally putting pressure on his injured arm, and cried out in pain.

Something else whistled through the air, just barely missing Scott’s back. Stiles reached up with his good arm and pulled Scott down to the ground, ignoring Scott’s protests while his eyes searched for whatever was being thrown at them.

Stiles’ eyes finally landed on the offender, “An arrow.”

“What?” Scott looked in the direction Stiles was pointing.

“Someone’s shooting arrows at us.” Stiles whispered.

“Who would do that?” Scott whispered back.

Stiles fought back an eye roll, “Hunters. They must be tracking the Rougarou.”

“We’re not the Rougarou though!”

“Four-for-one special.”

Another voice, a woman’s, broke through the night air, “They’re over here somewhere.”

“Shit,” Stiles whispered, “we need to move.”

Scott nodded, “I know where the Jeep is.”

“We have to stay down, but we have to move fast.”

“I can take them.” Scott said, puffing out his chest as he stood.

“Oh, now you want to fight!”

“We don’t have a choice!” Scott protested.

Stiles sighed, “I don’t think Laura would be down with you killing a bunch of people.”

“They’re trying to kill us!”

Another Arrow flew between them, whoever was shooting wasn’t that good at hitting their target.

“Run!” Stiles said, pulling Scott along with him.

Scott went along with it, taking up the lead and setting a path for Stiles to follow.

A howl went up in the air, one that Stiles recognized as Laura’s.

“Laura,” Scott said, still running, “she and Derek are OK, they managed to shake off the hunters.”

“You got all that from a howl?”

“It’s like…a feeling. I don’t know how to explain it.”

The Jeep came into view, it’s blue paint glinting under the moonlight. Stiles frantically pulled the keys out of his pocket, running to unlock the door.

Stiles turned to Scott, “Can you like, answer her? Let her know that we’re alive?”

“Maybe?” Scott shrugged, he leaned out of the window of the Jeep just as Stiles cranked the engine and put it in drive, and howled.

Scott’s voice cracked halfway through the howl, and it would have been hilarious if Stiles wasn’t about to piss his pants in fear.

An answering howl filtered through the cracked window as Stiles pulled onto the main road leading back to his house.

“She got the message.” Scott beamed, proud of himself.

Stiles reached over to ruffle Scott’s hair, but winced when he pulled on the raw skin of his wound.

“Fuck that hurts.”

 

X

 

The hunters fanned out through the forest, they flowed into the standard triangle formation that was normally used for tracking multiple targets. It was a lot quieter than one expected, less pomp and circumstance and more tactical precision.

“Chris, what’s the plan?” one of the hunters asked.

“Ask her.”

“Kate?” The hunter questioned, “She took off on her own a few minutes back.”

“Not Kate.”

The group was silent, and an awkward tension fell over the group.

Chris sighed, “Allison, what do you think the best course of action is?”

Allison blinked, her throat closing up now that she was suddenly in the spotlight.

“I…” Allison trailed off, “you didn’t tell me I was going to be in charge.”

“You’re going to lead us all one day,” Chris snapped, “you need to learn how to think on your feet.”

Allison clenched her first, her knuckles going white as the grip on her bow tightened, “It’s just recon, right? We just want to see if there’s any evidence that the Hale’s were involved in the murders in town so there’s no need to make contact if we don’t have to.”

Chris nodded.

Allison crouched to the ground, running her hand across the soft dirt, “There’s two sets of tracks on the ground leading west, we follow them and see what we find.”

“Someone radio Kate and find out where the hell she is.” Chris said as he fell into step behind Allison, seemingly content to let her lead the charge.

“We tired,” another one of the hunters said, “all we get is static.”

“Why did she break away?” Allison asked, “I didn’t even realize she wasn’t with us anymore.”

Chris made a tsk sound and Allison felt her shoulders drop.

“She said she wanted to be in position for a pincer attack if it came down to it, said that the Hale’s are tricky fuckers and we’d need to surprise them if we wanted to take down an Alpha like Laura Hale.”

“Kate can take care of herself,” Chris said, “I just want to make sure we’re not walking on top of each other.”

A savage roar rolled through the forest and the entire team stopped in it’s tracks.

“What the fuck was that?” One of the hunters said, raising his gun to the ready.

Allison reached behind and pulled a wolfsbane tipped arrow from her quiver and knocked it in her bowstring, “Let’s go.”

The team picked up the pace and broke out into a jog while following the same tracks as before. Sounds of fighting got louder the closer the team got to their destination.

“That sounds like more than two wolves,” Allison said, “did we just walk into a territory dispute?”

The clearing came into view and the entire team stopped in their tracks as they took in the sight in front of them. A monstrous wolf, bigger than anything Allison had ever seen or read about, stood in the middle of the clearing. Allison watched in morbid fascination as the giant wolf fought against Derek and Laura Hale.

The wolf scrambled across the ground with the Hale’s, each of the siblings taking turns ripping chinks of flesh out of the wolf and having their bodies torn apart in return. Blood covered the grass of the clearing that was perfectly illuminated by the moon overhead. The Hales, even Laura, an _Alpha_ , were being tossed around like ragdolls by the monster. They both got in some good hits, but the monster seemed to recover faster and could take more of a beating until it eventually slowed down. It moved with such alarming speed, jumping from tree to tree, that Allison was rooted in place with fear and awe.

“This isn’t a territory dispute.” Chris said.

“Is that thing that’s killed the people in town?” Allison asked, “It’s huge.”

“We don’t know anything yet.” Chris said.

“Should have brought popcorn,” one of the hunters said, “this is a hell of a show.”

“At this rate we’re only going to have to deal with the winner of this fight,” the other hunter smiled, “makes our job a hell of a lot easier.”

That didn’t sit right with Allison, “We’re just going to sit here and not do anything?”

One of the hunters scoffed, “Let the mutts kill each other, as long as they’re dead it’s the same to me.”

“What else would you propose?” Chris asked.

Allison thought for a second, “Flash bang.”

“Continue.” Chris prompted.

Allison took a deep breath, “If I aim it right I should be able to stun them. We can take the Hales in for questioning, maybe find out what the hell that big thing is, and we might even be able to take down the other one.”

Chris was quiet for a few seconds before nodding, “Do it.”

Allison swapped out her standard Arrow for the flash bang and drew back on the bow strong. It was now that she’d wished she spent more time practicing with them over the standard arrows she was more comfortable with.

Chris stopped her before she let the arrow go, “Try to wound them first.”

“What?”

“Just listen to me,” Chris insisted, “Wolfsbane arrows first, then the flash bang.”

Allison hesitated for a moment, but followed her father’s orders while doubting who was supposed to be in charge. It was probably a test, she thought after she fired the first arrow that missed its mark. A test she failed, if the fact that her second volley of three arrows didn’t hit a single wolf.

Allison was getting frustrated, she pulled the flash bang from the quiver and pulled her bow back, lining up the shot and letting it go. A breeze blew through the preserve at the last moment and blew the arrow slightly off course, causing it to land a few feet further from Derek Hale than she’d intended.

“Dammit.” Allison hissed.

The arrow exploded, showering the clearing with a bight light.

Everything erupted into chaos after that.

All three wolves scrambled, the Hales running in one direction while the monstrous wolf ran in the other. Allison watched as her father ran off, grabbing one of the spare hunters by the arm and shouting furiously for Kate on his radio.

Allison stood still for a few more moments before snapping back to her senses.

“Come on,” she said, tapping the left-over hunter on the arm, “let’s go this way.”

They ran through the woods in the general direction that the Hale’s were last seen. They ran for a few minutes without a single trace of the Hale’s until Allison heard the sound of voices coming from the opposite direction in the distance. She wasn’t close enough to pick up on the actual conversation, but she could hear the cadence of the voices, it was two people arguing. She was ready to write it off until she saw a flash of golden Beta eyes in the darkness.

Allison tapped the hunter on the shoulder and held a finger up to her lips before pointing at the shrouded silhouettes in the distance. The hunter nodded and readied his gun, but Allison pushed the barrel down and shook her head before drawing another arrow from her quiver.

Allison lined up the shot and let the arrow loose, watching as it sailed through the air and made contact with a target. Allison grinned as she watched the shadow fall to the floor with a cry of pain, the arrow was one of the ones tipped with wolfsbane, they wouldn’t be getting far.

Allison let another arrow fly as they moved towards their targets.

“They’re over here somewhere.” Allison said as they moved towards the sound of hushed voices.

A crackling sound from her earpiece startled her as she let another arrow go, sending it off course.

“Everyone regroup, we lost track of the Hale’s and the other wolf disappeared.”

“Dad,” Allison said into her radio, “I have the Hale’s in front of me.”

“That’s not possible,” her father said, “I just watched Laura Hale shift into a wolf and take off with her brother faster than I could get to them.”

Allison looked over her shoulder as the two shadows who were almost completely out of a view. If the Hale’s were gone than who the hell did she just hit with an arrow?

“What about Kate?” The hunter with Allison asked.

“I’m here,” Kate’s voice broke through the radio, she was panting and out of breath, “I can see you, Allison. I’m coming up behind you, try not to nail me with an arrow.”

Allison turned and waited for a few seconds before Kate stepped out of the darkness. She was drenched in sweat, her white shirt stained and her leather jacket half hanging off her shoulder. Kate stopped and braced herself against a tree with one hand, leaning over to catch her breath.

“Holy shit,” Kate laughed, “that was wild.”

“What happened?” Her father’s voice came through the speaker again, this time sounding angry.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Chris.” Kate rolled her eyes.

Allison covered her mic to smother her laughter.

“I was trying to circle around the Hale’s, and you were throwing off my concentration with all your bitching in my ear, by the way,” Kate said, “then outta nowhere comes this giant fucking thing, barrels right into me and knocks me on my ass before trying to take my head off.”

“You saw the other thing out here?” Allison asked, that only left the two mystery people out in the woods unaccounted for.

Kate nodded, “Got it good with my knife and then chased it down until I lost it. That thing can move.”

“Everyone regroup,” her dad sighed into the radio, “this was a real shit show.”

Allison frowned and hung her bow from her shoulder as a howl echoed through the preserve.

Kate came up beside her, placing a hand on the top of Allison’s head after disconnecting her radio, “Don’t listen to your dad, kiddo. You fucking killed it tonight.”

Allison smiled, preening a bit, “Thanks Aunt Kate.”

The group was quiet as they walked back to their fleet of vehicles. Allison loaded herself into the front seat of her dad’s SUV and twisted onto her side, watching the road pass by as he drove home.

Allison spent the entire drive thinking of the mysterious golden eyes in the forest.


	16. Being Human

Chapter Sixteen

Being Human

 

Stiles blinked at the ceiling of his room a few times before rolling over and looking at the digital clock by his bedside. It was almost 1am and he hadn’t gotten a second of sleep since he’d been home. His dad had picked him up from Scott’s shortly after they’d gotten there, Stiles barely had enough time to shower, bandage his arm, and steal clean clothes from Scott before his dad arrived to escort him home.

Stiles and his dad hadn’t spoken much after getting home, he just said that there was a murder and he couldn’t talk anymore about it before retreating upstairs to get as much sleep as possible before he had to go back in to continue leading the investigation.

Seeing his dad so tired and overworked bothered Stiles more than he’d anticipated. Stiles didn’t stop to think that he was actively contributing to his father’s headache by not telling him what he knew. Stiles knew his dad, he knew how much his father cared about the town and the people in it. He knew that his dad would be running himself ragged trying to find out who had committed two murders in the span of a few days in their once quiet little town.

If only Stiles could tell his dad that it wasn’t  _just_  a person he was looking for.

How would that even work?

_‘Oh, by the way, dad! Your murderer is actually a giant werewolf that’s being magically controlled by a random woman in town! Also, my new teacher is a serial killer who kinda tried to molest me in the middle of class! Have a good day!’_

Stiles blinked in tandem with the flashing red numbers of his digital clock, quietly counting the seconds in his head until a stinging pain in his arm diverted his attention. He reached over and turned on the bedside lamp and frowned when he saw the blood from his arm seeping through the bandage and onto the sleeve of his shirt.

Stiles turned off the lamp and quickly hopped out of bed, because blood was a bitch to get out of sheets. A fact he’d learned during the great Nosebleed Sleepover Fiasco of 2001.

Dodging every creaky floorboard on his way to the bathroom, Stiles quickly grabbed the deluxe first aid kit his father had given him as a gag birthday present and made his way back to his room.

Two pinpoints of electric blue from outside his bedroom window were the only sources of light in the darkness. Stiles’ grip on the first aid kit tightened before he turned his lamp back on and unlocked the window.

Stiles stepped to the side as Derek crawled through the window and stood awkwardly to the side.

Stiles didn’t want to be the first one to speak so he stood silently in an effort to wait Derek out.

Finally, mercifully, after a few more seconds, Derek spoke, “You locked the window.”

Stiles nodded, “Us weak and defenses humans need all the protection we can get.”

Not the most mature of responses, sure, but it was 1am and Stiles’ head was filled with a flood of emotions from the day.

Derek opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. He repeated the action several times before he apparently settled on something to say.

“I smelled blood.”

Stiles’ eyebrows shot up to his hairline, “Um?”

Derek shook his head, “I was outside, making sure nothing came for you and I smelled blood, so I came to your window.”

“You’ve been outside the entire time?” Stiles asked, questioning himself on if he found that idea creepy or endearing.

“Not all night,” Derek said, “just after I finished healing.”

Stiles walked back over to his bed and sat on the edge, “How bad was it? Laura said you were pretty roughed up when I talked to her on the phone a few hours ago.”

Derek shrugged, “The hunters put wolfsbane in their flash bangs. I was too close and looking directly at it when it went off. It burnt off my corneas.”

“ _Burnt off your corneas?”_  Stiles hissed, “Dude, it seriously worries me how casually you said that.”

Derek shrugged again, “It’s not the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Stiles…had no idea to respond to that.

“Can you hand me the first aid kit?” Stiles said, pointing to the metal box he’d left sitting on the desk near Derek.

Derek nodded and picked up the kit, walking over to Stiles and kneeling in front of him. Derek studied him for a minute, his eyes sweeping over every inch of Stiles’ frame before zeroing in on the growing red spot on his sleeve.

“What happened?” Derek asked as he opened the first aid kit.

“I got shot with an arrow,” Stiles said, alarmingly too casual for himself too, “Well, more like grazed.”

“I’m going to kill all of them.” Derek said, his eyes glowing electric blue again.

Stiles shook his head, “Please don’t, there’s already enough dead people around town. If anymore pop up I’m worried my dad is going to have a heart attack that doesn’t have anything to do with butter and red meat.”

Derek let out a tense breath before leaning forward, “Let me see it.”

Stiles stared at Derek, “It’s not that big a deal, I can take care of it myself.”

“Stiles.” Derek’s voice left no room for an argument.

Stiles slowly rolled up his sleeve, wincing as the fabric caught on the bandage and pulled at the wound in a painful direction. Stiles didn’t focus on Derek as he pulled the bandage off and tossed it into the trashcan nearby.

The cut was deeper than Stiles remembered it being and the area around it was an angry red color. There wasn’t much swelling or anything that would make Stiles think he had an infection, he’d been more than generous with the antibiotic ointment.

Derek slowly raised his hand to Stiles’ arm, his fingers light as a feather as they came to rest on Stiles’ skin. Derek traced the area around the cut with his index finger before removing his hands completely and sighing.

“You’re going to need stitches.”

Stiles groaned, “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

“It won’t heal properly,” Derek said, “and the longer it stays open like that the more of a chance you have of getting an infection.”

Stiles scrubbed his hand down his face and stuck his tongue out before falling back onto his bed, “Mrs. McCall is never going to believe any story I tell her about this.”

Stiles listened as Derek dug through the first aid kit.

“There are sutures in here.” Derek said.

Stiles sat up and eyed Derek dubiously. Derek held the packet of stitches in his hand, turning it back and forth so the only thing that Stiles could see was the rather large needle glinting under the lamp light.

“And?”

“I can do it,” Derek said, “you don’t have to go to Scott’s mom.”

Stiles swallowed the lump in his throat, “You sure you know how to do that?”

Derek nodded, “My aunt taught me when I was younger.”

Stiles weighed the options in his head. On one hand, it let him avoid Mrs. McCall and her deadly truth-seeking eyes. On the other hand, Derek would probably get to see Stiles cry entirely not manly tears. Stiles learned the hard way a few years ago that he didn’t have the best reaction to having a needle and thread repeatedly pulled through his skin.

Derek must have caught the uptick in Stiles’ heartbeat, “It won’t hurt.”

Stiles sputtered, “That’s easy for you to say!”

“Stiles,” Derek said, his voice more serious than it had been the moment before, “do you trust me?”

Stiles’ breath hitched in his chest. It was such an unexpected question, loaded in ways that Stiles didn’t even think he fully understood. Still, there was no question what his answer was.

“Yes.”

Derek nodded, “Take off your shirt.”

Stiles felt his face go red in an instant, “Huh? What? Who? Me?”

Derek sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “It’s in the way. Either take it off or I’m just going to rip the sleeve off.”

“Great bedside manner there, doc.” Stiles mumbled before using his good arm to pull the shirt over his head.

Derek rolled his eyes, “You’ll be fine.”

“Last time Mrs. McCall gave me stiches Scott had to sit on top of me to stop me from moving.” Stiles warned him.

Derek didn’t respond. The room was dead quiet save for the sound of Derek tearing the plastic packaging open with his teeth. Derek worked quietly as he set everything up, rolling out a strip of gauze and placing the needle and sutures on it. He popped open a bottle of disinfectant and dipped the needle into it before threading it and holding it at the ready.

“Don’t move.” Derek said.

Stiles nodded and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt Derek’s hand press down on his arm to hold him in place. Derek’s grip was softer than Stiles had imagined, like he was purposely holding back and treating Stiles as delicately as possible. It was easy for Stiles to relax into such a touch.

Stiles cringed as he felt the sharp end of the needle press into his skin, the sharp piercing pain being replaced by a dull pressure a moment later. Stiles gritted his teeth as he felt the uncomfortable glide of the sutures under his skin, but it wasn’t until he felt the press of the needle into his skin for the second time that stiles realized he wasn’t feeling any pain.

“What the?” Stiles opened his eyes and looked at Derek.

Derek’s face was tight, his eyes solely concentrated on the job at hand.

Stiles looked down at his arm just in time to see Derek pierce his skin with the needle again. Still, there was no pain. Derek was about halfway done with stitching Stiles up and he hadn’t felt anything other than the pressure of the needle being pressed into his skin.

“How are you doing that?” Stiles asked, “What kind of magic is happening right now? Did you drug me?”

Derek’s face shifted, a small smiled pulled at the edges of his mouth as he spoke, “I didn’t drug you.”

“Then what…” Stiles trailed off as he looked down at Derek’s hands again. Derek’s right hand was working on stitching Stiles’ arm, but his left hand was still lightly pressed on Stiles’ lower arm. Stiles would have found time to be amazed at Derek doing a flawless set of stitches one handed if it wasn’t for what was happening with Derek’s left hand.

All along the top of Derek’s left hand, black veins bulged out from under his skin. The veins were pulsing repeatedly, almost as if they were moving under Derek’s skin.

“What the hell is that?” Stiles said, mildly confused.

Derek huffed out a small laugh, “I’m taking your pain.”

“You’re doing my what?” Stiles cocked his head to the side, he was suddenly starting to feel loopy and tired.

“It’s something some wolves can do,” Derek said simply, “usually it’s just something an Alpha learns but my mother taught all of us when we were younger. I’m drawing out any pain you’re feeling and taking it for myself.”

Stiles took a few moments to process what Derek said. It was hardly the weirdest thing Stiles had learned about werewolves in the last week, but it was easily the most surprising.

“So, you’re in pain right now?” Stiles asked. The last thing he wanted to do was have Derek suffer anymore because of him.

Derek shook his head, “I barely feel it, at worst it just feels like being pinched for a second before the healing takes over.”

“What would happen if you took your hand away?” Stiles asked hesitantly.

Derek smirked, “Do you want to find out?”

Stiles furiously shook his head, “No! Nope! Not at all, keep on with the werewolf pain magic!”

“It’s not magic.” Derek rolled his eyes, “Stop moving so much, I’m almost done.”

Stiles watched Derek’s left had as he finished up his work. It was almost hypnotizing watching the veins pulse and knowing that it was all the pain being drained from his body.

“Done.” Derek said, tying off the last stitch, “Don’t move, I’m going to bandage it.”

Derek pulled his left hand away and Stiles bit his lip as a small flood of pain flashed through his arm, but the sensation went away almost as quickly as it came as soon as Derek returned with the antibiotic cream.

Derek wrapped Stiles’ arm in gauze and made sure it was taped properly before nodding.

“It shouldn’t scar that badly,” Derek said, “it wasn’t as deep as it could have been, and the stitches are dissolvable so just try to not get them wet.”

“Right.” Stiles said, letting out a yawn.

“You need to go to sleep.” Derek stood up and cleaned his hands off with a roll of paper towels by the desk.

Stiles look at the clock and was surprised to find it was nearly 2am. Had Derek really been there for almost an hour?

“What about you?” Stiles asked, “You’ve got to be tired.”

Derek shrugged, “I can sleep during the day.”

“You’re not really going to sit in a tree outside my window all night, are you?” Stiles asked, astounded by the insanity of the statement.

“There’s a comfortable rock just outside of your property line,” Derek said, “I was sitting there reading before I came up here.”

Stiles burst into laughter, quickly covering his mouth before me made anymore sound, “A rock? You were sitting on a rock? You couldn’t even bring a chair?”

Derek didn’t say anything as he walked back to the window and opened it. He had one leg out onto the roof before Stiles stopped him.

“Wait!” Stiles whispered, “If you’re going to stay outside you might as well just stay in here.”

The lamp light didn’t stretch to the other side of the room and it left Derek’s face impossible to read from that far away.

Derek spoke after a few seconds, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why?” Stiles shrugged before reaching over to turn off his lamp, “I’m about to pass out and if you’re determined to make sure something doesn’t come kill me in the middle of the night the least you can do is be comfortable.”

Derek hesitated for several seconds, long enough for Stiles to begin to feel awkward for making the offer at all. Stiles didn’t think he had an ulterior motive behind his offer, he just wanted Derek to not sit outside in the woods on a rock. It wasn’t like he expected Derek to crawl into bed with him or anything.

But Stiles had no way to know how Derek interpreted the offer.

Stiles was just about to tell Derek he didn’t have to stay when he saw Derek set back into the room and close the window. Derek pulled out the chair at Stiles desk and plucked at worn paperback book from his back pocket and sat down. Stiles couldn’t see the title of the book in the dark.

“I’ll stay until I hear your dad wake up.”

Stiles reply was cut off by his own yawn.

“Go to sleep, Stiles.” Derek said before Stiles could try to speak again.

Stiles nodded with his head against his pillow and drifted to sleep before he could think of anything else to say.

 

X

 

Stiles was stirred from his sleep by a vibrating from under his pillow. He opened his eyes slowly, squinting to block out the sunlight. Stiles looked around the room as he sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His eyes went immediately to the last place he saw Derek before he fell asleep but the chair at his desk was pushed in and undisturbed. The window was also closed and locked.

If it wasn’t for the bandage on his arm and the stitches underneath Stiles would have thought everything that happened with Derek last night was a dream.

It was just after 7am and Stiles could hear his dad moving around in the hallway outside his room, so Derek couldn’t have been gone for long if he did stay until he heard the Sheriff wake up. The window was locked too, meaning Derick must have left through one of the doors downstairs.

The buzzing under his pillow continued.

Stiles groaned and pulled his phone out, cocking his head to the side when he saw it was Lydia calling him. Stiles could count on both hands the number of times Lydia had been the first one to call him, and he could count on zero hands the number of times Lydia called him before 12pm.

“Lyds?” Stiles mumbled groggily into the phone.

“I need you to come pick me up.” Lydia said, succinct as always.

Stiles swung his legs off the bed, “Good morning to you too, Lydia.”

Lydia sighed on the other end of the line, “Good morning, Stiles. I need you to come pick me up.”

Stiles stretched his arms above his head while he cradled the phone against his shoulder. It was easy enough to ignore the slight sting in his arm, Stiles wondered if it was leftover werewolf pain magic.

“Where’s your car?”

“It’s downtown at the video store,” Lydia said, “your dad said I couldn’t have it back until sometime tomorrow.”

“My dad?” Stiles repeated, confused for a moment, and then it hit him, “Holy shit, you were at the store last night when that guy was killed?”

Stiles’ mind was racing. What had Lydia seen? Holy shit, she could have easily been the victim.

Lydia was quiet for a second, “It’s…hard to explain. Just come pick me up, please.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Stiles nodded to himself, “Wait, why are you calling me instead of Jackson?”

Lydia groaned, “I’m not talking to Jackson and you’re not talking about Jackson to me. Be here in no more than fifteen minutes.”

Lydia hung up the phone.

Stiles jumped out of bed, quickly throwing on a passably decent outfit before rushing to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He texted Scott to see if he needed a ride as he was walking down the stairs and got a reply that his mom felt better dropping him off on her way to work. That left Stiles with plenty of time with Lydia to see what she knew, Stiles knew enough about Lydia to know that she’d divulge more information in a one on one conversation.

Stiles’ dad was grabbing his keys just as Stiles turned the corner.

“Where are you off to this early?”

Stiles dashed into the kitchen to grab a poptart before replying.

“I’m picking Lydia up,” Stiles said between bites, “she said something about this really rude cop not letting her have her car until tomorrow.”

The Sheriff rolled his eyes, “It’s part of a crime scene.”

“About that,” Stiles smiled, “do you have anymore information?”

“Nothing that I’m going to tell you.”

Stiles groaned, “C’mon dad, if there’s a psycho murderer running around town don’t you think I should arm myself with all the facts?”

The Sheriff paused, “You’re not arming yourself with anything. You’re either here after school or at Scott’s when Melissa is around. I don’t want you running around town, or out in the damn woods, when we’re not sure what the hell is happening here. And that includes staying away from  _anyone_  with the last name Hale.”

Stiles held both of his hands up in surrender and took a step backwards, “It was just a question!”

“I mean it.” the Sheriff warned.

Stiles nodded and followed his dad out the door with a pit opening in the bottom of his stomach about all the lies he’d already told, and all the rules he was going to break.

 

X

 

Lydia was waiting outside of the front gate of her house as Stiles pulled up. She opened the door and quickly climbed into the passenger’s seat, holding her purse in her lap as she buckled her seatbelt.

“Drive.” Lydia said.

“What?” Stiles grinned, “Afraid of your neighbors seeing you get in a car that’s more than a year old?”

Lydia smacked him in the chest, “No, asshole, I’m afraid of being late to school.”

“Chill, we’ve got plenty of time.” Stiles said as he turned the jeep around and pulled back onto the main road.

“Not if you’re stopping to get me coffee.” Lydia said, her eyes focused on her phone.

They drove for a few minutes and Stiles held his tongue until they got in the Starbucks drive through. He wasn’t against holding Lydia’s coffee hostage until she told him what happened last night.

“I’ll talk to my dad and see if he can let you have your car today.” Stiles said, offering up an ice breaker to lead into the bigger conversation.

Lydia dropped her phone into her purse and turned to look at Stiles, smiling, “Thank you.”

So,” Stiles said, smoothly drawing out the last letter of the word, “what happened last night.”

Lydia’s smile dropped, and her eyes narrowed, “Like I told your dad, I don’t know.”

“What?” Stiles said, taken aback, “How do you not know if you were there?”

Lydia sighed and ran a hand through her hair, tossing it over her shoulder, “I left before anything happened.”

“If you left before the guy was killed then why was your car there?” Stiles asked, something wasn’t adding up.

“Jesus, are you the cop or is it your dad?” Lydia snapped.

Stiles recoiled, leaning back in his seat and away from Lydia.

Lydia rubbed her eyes and rested her head against the window, “I’m sorry.”

Stiles shook his head, maybe trying to get answers out of Lydia so soon was a bad idea, “It’s fine.”

“I don’t know what happened,” Lydia said suddenly, her voice small and detached, “one second I was standing in the romantic comedy section trying to decide what I wanted to watch and then the next I heard…something.”

Stiles’ eyes went wide as he remembered Lydia’s freak out in the hallway.

Lydia continued on, “It was like something was screaming in my head, telling me to get out of there as fast as I could. I felt this…weight. It was like the air was pressing down on me, I couldn’t stand to be inside anymore, so I just left and started walking down the street. I probably walked half a mile before I came back to my senses. By the time I got back to the store it was surrounded by police, the front window was broken, and my car was covered in glass with the hood dented in.”

“Holy shit,” Stiles whispered, “what did you tell my dad?”

Lydia laughed, though it sounded strained, “I told him I’d just broken up with Jackson, which is true, and that I got sad looking at movies we used to watch together and needed to get some air. I threw in a few tears and he got uncomfortable and let me go home.”

Stiles smiled and pulled up to the window to pay for their drinks. He waved away Lydia’s credit card, it didn’t seem right making her pay after that, and pulled back onto the road.

“That wasn’t the first time you’ve gotten that feeling, was it?” Stiles asked.

Lydia shook her head, “No. It’s been happing for the last few weeks, but it’s always been smaller stuff, like a voice telling me I left my flat iron on. Or something stopping me from gunning it through a yellow light only for someone to speed through the intersection right where my car would have been. It’s never been…I’m losing my mind. That must be it. I need more Xanax or something.”

“I don’t think Xanax is going to help with that.”

Lydia smacked him in the chest again, “Don’t be rude.”

Stiles smiled at her as they pulled into the parking lot, “We’ll figure out what’s going on, I promise.”

Lydia paused as she opened the door, “I don't think it's something you can figure out, Stiles.”

Stiles grinned, “Lydia, it's me. If anyone can figure it out, I can.”

Lydia shook her head and looked towards the sky with a silent prayer, "I've always wondered if you were actually certifiable. Well, at least I'll know someone when we end up in Eichen House together." 

Stiles winked, yelling to Lydia as she walked across the parking lot, "Birds of a feather!"

Stiles waited until Lydia disappeared inside the building before turning the Jeep off and getting out, He pulled his phone out and texted Laura, asking her to meet him at Deaton's after school. Stiles had a list of questions for the man and he hoping having Laura there would make Deaton's tongue a little looser. 

 


	17. Cryptic

 

 

 

 

Chapter Seventeen

Cryptic

 

Lunch time found Stiles, once again, in the library for two reasons. The first reason, he’d been dying to do research on psychic phenomena all day. The second, he’d seen Kate lingering outside of the cafeteria door and Stiles would rather starve for the rest of the day than be anywhere in Kate’s orbit.

Stiles spent the entire day going out if his way to avoid Kate, even showing up to his third period class late because he had to take the long way around campus to avoid walking past the door to Kate’s classroom.

Needless to say, Stiles had positioned himself perfectly in the library. He could see every person who walked through the door, but he was conveniently obscured by the stacks of books around his computer. Kate wasn’t getting the jump on him in there.

Stiles pulls up Google, because Google is the knower of all things, and simply searched for the word psychics. He really shouldn’t have been surprised that his tops hits were Wikipedia and some shady websites offering to tell him his future for $24.99.

Stiles angrily backspaced the word and replaced it with psychic phenomena. This gave him a few more interesting hits, though he purposely avoided every article related to MKUltra because he’d already gone down that rabbit hole once and didn’t come back for like three days.

The rest of the search results, however, seem to fall into the telekinesis school of thought. And it’s not that it wouldn’t be cool, but Stiles really didn’t think Lydia was lifting objects with her mind. Lydia seemed more Raven Baxter than Jean Grey.

Stiles glanced at the clock, he didn’t have much longer until his lunch period was over, so he decided to throw everything at the wall to see what stuck.

_Psychic, psychic powers, future, supernatural, sensing death_

Stiles clicked through several pages of results, stopping every so often to read a few paragraphs here and there, but nothing seemed to fit. Maybe he shouldn’t have put so much faith in Google. After all, how could Google filter out the stuff that Stiles knew was obviously real from the stuff that was obviously fiction.

Stiles’ cursor hovered over the Wikipedia entry for Banshee when he was startled by a voice next to him.

“Who are you stalking now?”

Stiles yelped, jumping in his seat, and quickly closed out the browser before looking for the source of the voice. When Stiles looked up he saw Erica, dressed in her usual hoodie with her unruly hair pulled into a ponytail. So much for no one being able to get the jump on him.  Just how long had Erica been standing there?

“I watched The Sixth Sense last night,” Stiles said, rather smoothly, “now I can’t stop thinking I’m seeing dead people.”

“Huh,” Erica cocked her head to the side, “I did think it was weird that you were the only person who could see me.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Very funny. What’s up?”

Erica shrugged, “Not much, just hiding out in here and I saw you skulking around back here, so I figured I’d come torment you. That is…if your offer still stands.”

Stiles furrowed his brow, “My offer?”

Erica’s face dropped along with her shoulders, she hunched forward, closing herself off, “Never mind.”

Stiles was confused for a few moments until it dawned on him, and the he just felt like the worlds biggest asshole.

“My offer!” Stiles all but yelled, drawing a few angry eyes and whispers, “Lunch! With me! Yes! Sorry!”

Erica tipped her head back up to meet Stiles eyes, a fond smirk playing across her lips, “I think I can physically see all the exclamation points you put into that.”

Stiles shrugged, “If ya ain’t exlamin’, then you’re a lame’n!”

Erica’s jaw dropped, “That was…terrible. I can’t associate with you anymore, you’ll drop my already nonexistent street cred into the negative.”

“Hmm,” Stiles tipped his chin upwards, “I didn’t know street cred could go any lower than mine, it’s nice to know I’m not the most tragic person among the student body.”

Erica rolled her eyes and flicked Stiles on the side of the head, “Asshole.”

Stiles grinned, “That’s me!”

Erica flicked him on the side of the head again before leaning back in her chair, “I hear you made friends with yet another Chemistry teacher.”

Stiles froze, his entire body going rigid, “What do you mean?”

Erica shrugged, “Just that you made a great first impression on the grownup Argent.”

Stiles swallowed the lump in his quickly tightening throat, he pushed away all thoughts of Kate and tried to act as normal as possible, “Some people just don’t get my brand of humor.”

Erica laughed, “From what I’ve heard it was less humor and more straight up antagonism.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Stiles said as he pushed himself away from the computer, standing up right as the bell rang, “We should get to class.”

Erica blinked, studying Stiles for a moment, before picking her bag up from the ground and standing, “Fine. You can walk me to class.”

“We’re going to the same class, Erica.”

“Exactly,” Erica said with a smile, “so you can walk me there.”

Stiles held his arms out in front of them with a fancy flourish, and let Erica take point as they left the library. They made it through the halls rather quickly, dodging the other students and teachers by taking advantage of the back way to the Econ classroom from the library.

Stiles had a…complicated relationship with his Econ class. On one hand, it was one of the two classes that literally all his friends were in. Ignoring the slightly sad fact that the total of all of Stiles’ friends fit into one classroom, Stiles looked forward to the class he shared with Scott, Allison, Lydia, and now, thanks to their newly minted friendship, Erica.

On the other hand, the class had Jackson in it as well. And it was also taught by his Lacrosse coach, which one would think would make the class easier.

It didn’t.

Finstock liked to talk, ramble even. And he was notorious for the amount of group projects he assigned. Stiles had already done four group projects this semester and he had a sinking feeling that they were in for another. There was usually a 50/50 chance that Finstock would let them group up on their own rather than assign them himself. The times that Finstock assigned groups himself had led to some of Stiles’ least favorite memories of high school.

Stiles still had nightmares about his clusterfuck of a “Get Rich or Die Trying” project with Jackson.

Scott was already in his usual seat in front of Stiles’ desk, with Allison sitting next to him. Lydia usually sat next to Stiles in the desk closest to the window. Jackson, depending on if he was on speaking terms with Lydia, usually sat behind her. Stiles looked around the room and frowned when he realized that he had no idea where Erica normally sat. Finstock’s class didn’t have assigned seats but everyone usually picked one and just gravitated to the same spot every day.

“Hey,” Stiles said, just as Erica started to head towards the back of the class, “sit behind me today?”

Erica looked confused, “Isn’t that usually Greenberg’s seat?”

Stiles shrugged, “Your point?”

Erica huffed out a small breath of laughter but walked towards the desk behind Stiles’, “Whatever you say.”

Stiles dropped into his seat, stretching his legs out and not so accidentally kicking Scott in the back of the legs.

“Asshole,” Scott muttered before turning around, “how did you sleep?”

Scott looked no worse for wear after last night, and Stiles was momentarily jealous of the whole werewolf rejuvenation thing because Stiles was sure he looked like hell. Still, he had to admit that he didn’t sleep too terribly after Derek and his magic werewolf hands.

Stiles choked on his own spit, blushing, “I was pretty beat, so I passed right out.”

Scott nodded before turning back to Allison and resting his head on his hands while hanging on her every word.

Allison, Stiles had to admit, looked a little rough. She kept yawning and was sporting a matching pair of bags under her eyes similar to Stiles’ own.

Interesting.

Lydia, on the other hand, was still pristinely put together. Stiles would have no idea that she was just a few hours removed from a psychic warning induced hysteria.

Stiles decided that supernatural crisis could wait until class was over, so he knocked his knuckles on his desk a few times to get the attention of his friends.

“You all know Erica, right?” Stiles said with a grin as everyone turned to face him.

“Who?” Allison was the first to speak.

Stiles deflated a little bit, his shoulders sagging as he leaned out of the way to expose Erica in the chair behind him, “Erica. This Erica. Reyes. Erica Reyes.”

Erica groaned, “I think that’s the most anyone in this school has ever said my name.”

Lydia, shockingly, was the first to acknowledge Erica’s presence, looking up from her phone briefly, “Nice to see you again.”

Erica blinked rapidly, obviously shocked, “Uh, yeah. You too?”

Lydia hummed and gave Erica a small smile before turning back to her phone.

“I’m so sorry!” Allison’s eyes were wide and apologetic, “I honestly didn’t see you behind Stiles.”

Erica shook her head, “It’s fine, I’m used to it.”

Finstock tumbled into the room, bellowing, “Sit down, delinquents! Let’s get this show on the road.”

Erica leaned forward and whispered, “Well, that wasn’t awkward _at all_.”

Stiles flicked his hand at her over his shoulder, “Stop being rude, I’m trying to get you friends!”

Erica scoffed, “I don’t need you to come flying in like some superhero to try and save my social life, Stilinski. I’m perfectly fine as I am.”

Stiles turned around, “I’m not trying to save you!”

“Whatever,” Erica rolled her eyes, “pay attention to class.”

Stiles opened his mouth to reply but Erica arched a dangerous eyebrow, silencing him. He turned around in his chair and slumped in his seat, hardly paying attention to the lesson going on around him.

Stiles abandoned all hope of paying attention to class when he looked out the window and saw Kate walking between the buildings of the school. She paused in the middle of the walkway and slowly turned until she was facing the window of the Econ class. Kate’s mouth stretched into a tight smile as they made eye contact. Stiles didn’t know what to do, he only knew that he was determined to not be the first one to break eye contact. Maybe it was stupid, maybe he was challenging her in some way, but Stiles had the feeling that he was looking into the eyes of a predator, and he wasn’t going to show any fear if he had his way.

Kate cocked her head to the side after a few seconds, and her smile abruptly dropped from her face. She blinked once, twice, and then turned on her heels to stomp back into the science building.

Stiles let out a tense breath and looked down at his trembling hands under his desk. He needed to do something to occupy them before Lydia or someone else in class looked over at him. He quickly fished his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the first person he could think of to text, which ended up being Derek. 

Stiles’ fingers hesitated over the keyboard for a second before he made a decision.

**To Americas Most Wanted: Get any sleep?**

Stiles clicked his phone screen off and slide his phone under his palm as he waited for a reply. Maybe texting Derek wasn’t the best idea if he needed something to occupy his time, the odds that Derek would text back were slim anyway. Laura would have been the better option for an extended conversation.

Stiles phone vibrated.

**From Americas Most Wanted: …**

**From Americas Most Wanted: You just woke me up.**

Stiles snorted, it was just after 2pm, there was no way Derek was still asleep, even if he was up all night.

**To Americas Most Wanted: Liar.**

Stiles waited for another reply, passively paying attention to Finstock at the front of the class. Finstock was scribbling something on the dry erase board but Stiles didn’t care enough to try and decipher his handwriting.

Stiles’ phone vibrated again, only this time there was no text message.

It was a picture. Of Derek. In bed.

Derek’s hair was a mess, fuzzy and sticking up in every direction possible. He was shirtless, but the comforter was drawn up to just below his chest, leaving just enough skin exposed for Stiles to eye the sculp of the muscle of Derek’s chest.  One of Derek’s eyes were closed, while the other was only half open. He looked grumpy, tired, and entirely too fucking hot.

What the fuck had Stiles done in another life to deserve a blessing like this?

**From Americas Most Wanted: I don’t lie, Stiles.**

Stiles, being the dumpster fire of a train wreck that he was, did the only thing he could think to do.

**To Americas Most Wanted: skdjadklfkzdjfakljsfajlaskl**

And then Stiles turned his phone off completely because he didn’t trust himself to not be a fucking idiot.

“Something you’d like the share with the class?”

Stiles blinked, looking up at Finstock when he realized he was being spoke to.

“Uh, no?”

“You sure?” Finstock leaned against his desk, “I’m all ears.”

“Nope!” Stiles said, not at all casually, “Just me, a dead cell phone, and a thirst for knowledge.”

The class chuckled and Finstock shrugged, continuing on, “Alright then, time for your next group project.”

The entire class groaned in unison.

“I knew it!” Stiles whispered, drawing an annoyed look from Lydia.

“You’re going to be teamed up in groups of three and assigned a random country, I want a full presentation on their form of currency by next Tuesday.”

Stiles tapped Scott’s shoulder, hoping to get to him before Allison did.

“And I’m going to be the one choosing your groups.”

Well, fuck.

“Stilinski!” Finstock bellowed, running his finger down his attendance book.

“Not Jackson, not Jackson.” Stiles whispered to himself, feeling entirely too much like Harry Potter under the Sorting Hat.

“You’re with…” Finstock trailed off, “Martin and Reyes.”

“Yes!” Stiles hissed, “Thank god!”

Lydia let out a put-upon sigh before turning and facing Erica, “I apologize in advance for your being subjected to working on a group project with Stiles.”

“Hey!” Stiles yelped, “I’m not that bad.”

Lydia fixed him with an icy stare, “Stiles, you tried to make our last project about the history of male circumcision.”

“And?” Stiles challenged.

“The project was supposed to be about the Great Depression.”

“Circumcision is depressing!”

Erica flicked Stiles on the back of the head, “Stop talking, Stilinski.”

Lydia’s mouth curled into a wicked smile, “Oh, I like you.”

Erica preened a bit, and that alone made Stiles happy.

“McCall!” Finstock said, “You’re with Argent and Whittmore.”

Scott, of course, was beaming. Stiles, on the other hand, could see a few potential complications, seeing as how Scott was not paired with the biggest asshole in school and the girl of his dreams who possibly killed werewolves for a living. Jackson lived to make Scott miserable, he took every change he going to get under Scott’s skin and the fact that they were now working together with Allison sat Stiles on edge.

What if Jackson pissed Scott off so much that he wolfed out on him in front of Allison?

The bell rang.

“We should all get together to work on our projects,” Stiles said to both groups, “you know, strength in numbers and all.”

Lydia looked like she wanted to murder Stiles for suggesting she be in close proximity with Jackson, but Stiles was more worried about Scott.

Allison, surprisingly, smiled, “That’s a great idea! What about the Library on Sunday night? Does that work for everyone?”

Lydia sighed, “I suppose.”

Jackson shrugged, and Scott agreed to anything Allison said.

Stiles turned to Erica, “That work for you?”

Erica looked hesitant, “I’ll have to see if my mom can give me a ride.”

“I can pick you up,” Stiles offered, “it’s not that big of a deal. We can all get dinner and then go make foreign currency our bitch.”

Erica smiled as she stood from her desk, “Sure, Stilinski.”

The rest of the class filtered out of the room. Stiles stood from his desk and rolled his eyes when his phone fell out of his pocket and onto the ground. Without thinking, Stiles’ injured arm shot out to try and catch it before it hit the ground. Stiles hissed in pain when he pulled against the stitches in his arm, wincing as sharp pricks of pain radiated from his arm and down to his fingers.

Allison was the only one left in the room with him, she rushed to his side, “Stiles, are you OK?”

Stiles looked up at her, alert, “Yeah, sorry. Just…bruised my arm this morning and forgot about it.”

“Your arm?” Allison repeated with a quizzical look on her face.

Stiles swallowed, “Yeah, I, uh, hit it on the door of my Jeep when I was throwing my bag into the back. I might have cried like, a few manly tears over it.”

Allison looked at him for a few more seconds, her eyes lingering over the exact spot where Stiles’ arm was bandaged under his shirt. She smiled after another tense few seconds.

“You’re a disaster zone.”

Stiles let out a shaky breath, “I think FEMA is seriously considering adding a Stilinski relief fund to their budget.”

Allison laughed and slung her bag over her shoulder, “I’ll text you a time for Sunday?”

Stiles nodded, “Sounds like a plan.”

Allison left the room and Stiles lingered to let Finstock know that he wouldn’t be at practice today, giving him a flimsy excuse about having to do something for his dad. Finstock only shrugged and told him to not make it a habit, either not caring because Stiles was non-essential or unwilling to argue with a fake request from the Sheriff.

Either way, Stiles had his afternoon free. Laura had told him earlier that Derek was going to hang around the school and monitor Scott during practice while they met up with Deaton, so Stiles made his way to the parking lot and towards his Jeep.

Stiles was almost to the door when he was stopped by a strong hand on his arm, he thought it was Derek at first until the hand shifted upwards and closed around the exact spot where his arm was bandaged and tightened its grip. Stiles’ legs shook, his knees nearly giving out under him because of the pain, but the hand released its grip just a moment later.

Stiles breath caught in his throat when he turned around and saw Kate behind him.

“Stiles!” Her smile was dazzling, “I’ve been looking for you all day.”

Stiles arm was throbbing, and he was sure that a stitch or two popped, but he ignored the pain, “Busy day.”

Kate nodded, “Tell me about it. Listen, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday.”

That threw Stiles off, “Apologize?”

“I think we got off on the wrong foot,” Kate said as she ran a hand through her hair, tossing it over her shoulder as the breeze blew, “I don’t think you’re a bad kid, I just wanted to get with you before tomorrow so there wouldn’t be any awkward tension tomorrow in class. You kinda disappeared during your detention.”

“Sorry about that, thought the building was on fire.”

Kate laughed, “Yeah, that was weird, wasn’t it? Did you see the alarm on your way out? It was like someone knocked it off the wall completely.”

Shit.

“I appreciate it,” Stiles said quickly, “the apologizing. And I’m sorry too, sometimes I’m a bit too sarcastic for my own good. Anyway, bygones and all! Yay!”

Stiles opened the passenger door and threw his bag inside before quickly rounding the front of the Jeep and cranking the engine the second he was inside.

“See you tomorrow!” Stiles waved as he pulled out of his parking spot.

Kate stood in the same spot and watched him until he pulled off school property.

 

X

 

Laura, of course, was on top of Stiles the moment he got to Deaton’s.

“I can smell her,” Laura said as soon as Stiles walked in the door, “what happened?”

“Hello to you too, Laura.”

Laura took a step backwards and closed her eyes, when she opened him they were no longer red, “Sorry.”

Stiles shook his head, “It’s fine, I dodged her all day, but she caught me as I was walking to my car.”

“What did she want?”

Stiles huffed, “She wanted to _apologize_ so there’d be no weird tension in class. And she specifically mentioned how weird it was that fire alarm conveniently went off in the middle of my detention.”

Laura growled, “I wish I could just go rip her throat out and be done with it.”

Stiles laughed, he was sure Laura wasn’t the only one who thought that. Which made him think of Derek, and the fact that he was going to be so close to Kate if she decided to stick around the school after classes ended.

“Are you sure Derek will be fine watching Scott?” Stiles asked, “What if Kate stays after school?”

Laura sighed, “I thought the same thing, but he insisted when I told him I was meeting you here. He’s just going to stay in the woods outside of the practice field just to make sure Scott doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“And there’s no way Kate will see him?”

Laura shook her head and walked with Stiles into Deaton’s building, “Derek will be fine, Stiles. It’s sweet of you to worry though, both of you.”

Stiles felt his face flush, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Laura grinned, “just that you both are bending over backwards to make sure the other one is safe. It’s cute.”

“I…” Stiles trailed off.

“Stiles, it’s fine,” Laura smiled, “though I did have to have a talk with Derek when he came home just before sunrise smelling like he rolled all over you.”

Stiles’ eyes went wide, “We…no…he just stayed in my room. While I slept. Because he’s stupid and was going to sit outside on a rock and read.”

Laura laughed, “That sounds like something he would do.”

Deaton appeared from the back of his office just then, mercifully ending anymore talk of Derek in Stiles’ room.

“Laura,” Deaton smiled softly, “Mr. Stilinski.”

“How come she gets to be Laura but I have to be Mr. Stilinski?”

Deaton ignored the question, “Laura said there was something you wanted to ask me about, Mr. Stilinski?”

“Yeah,” Stiles nodded, looking around the waiting room and eyeing the woman sitting in the corner with two small cats, “maybe it would be better if we talked in the back?”

“Certainly,” Deaton nodded, opening the door to the back office, “follow me.”

Stiles let Laura take the lead as they followed Deaton back through his office. They came to a stop at one of the exam rooms and Deaton opened the door to usher them inside.

“No mystical basement this time?” Stiles asked.

Laura swatted him on the back of the head, “Stop being difficult.”

“Now, what was your question?” Deaton pulled out a rolling chair and sat on it.

Laura was in the only other chair in the room so Stiles, with his lack of options, hopped onto the exam table.

“Are psychics real?”

Deaton was quiet for a moment, “That would depend on how you define a psychic. Most psychic phenomena are the result of a supernatural creature, not just a regular human who can see the future.”

“Hypothetically,” Stiles prefaced himself, “say I know someone who is a human. And say that human has been having…feelings.”

“Feelings?” Laura echoed.

“Yes, bad feelings.”

Deaton raised a quizzical eyebrow, “What kind of bad feelings?”

Stiles sighed, scrubbing a hand over his head, “Feelings about death. This hypothetical friend might have had a few instances where they hypothetically felt like something was trying to warn them and then bad things happened.”

“Do you have an example?” Deaton asked.

“ _Hypothetically_ ,” Stiles stressed, “this person was at the video store last night.”

“What?” Laura stood from her seat, “You know someone who was there?”

“I said hypothetically!” Stiles hissed.

Deaton sat up straight and looked at Laura, “Let’s have Stiles finish his hypothetical tale before we ask questions.”

Laura nodded, smoothly sitting back down.

“Anyway, they might have had this feeling like something bad was about to go down. This feeling like voices were screaming and telling them to get out of there. Then they walked a mile away from the store without realizing it.”

“Interesting,” Deaton said, “you’re sure this person is a human?”

“I don’t know how they could be anything other than human.” Stiles said.

“You’d be surprised,” Deaton said, “not every supernatural creature looks like what you would call a monster. There are plenty of lines that appear human. Some of them are familial, passed down through generations. Sometimes they stay dormant for the persons entire life, giving them the appearance of a human, and others manifest over the persons early life, slowly turning them into whatever it is that is in their genes. It all depends. There is, as you can imagine, no exact science when it comes to things like this.”

“So, it’s more likely for someone to suddenly become like, an elf or something rather than just be a plain psychic?” Stiles asked.

Deaton laughed, “Not an elf, no. Based on what you’ve told me I have a few theories, but I wouldn’t want to speak on them without meeting the person beforehand. But, as you say, they are hypothetical.”

“Right,” Stiles nodded, “totally hypothetical.”

Deaton stood and pushed the chair to the corner, “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Laura shook her head, “I think that’s it. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us.”

“Not a problem,” Deaton smiled as he opened the door, “you two can show yourselves out, I have a few things I need to attend to.”

Stiles followed Laura out of the office and into the parking lot. Neither of them spoke until they were outside, and Laura turned on her heel once they were a few feet away from the building.

“Spill. Now.”

Stiles held his hands up in surrender, “I was planning on telling you!”

“Who is they hypothetical person?” Laura asked.

“My friend Lydia,” Stiles said, “she was there last night but she told me this morning that she got a weird feeling, like something was telling her to leave. She left and then by the time she came back the Rougarou had already attacked and killed the guy.”

“Jesus,” Laura whispered, “is this the first time something like this has happened?”

Stiles shook his head, “She freaked out the other day, right before Kate showed up?”

“What do you mean?” Laura asked.

“We were walking to class and she said she heard something, like heels echoing down the hallway, but we were the only ones around. Then, Kate showed up and Lydia had a total silent freakout thing going on.”

Laura ran a hand through her hair and leaned against the Jeep, “Why didn’t you tell Deaton who you were talking about?”

Stiles shrugged, “I don’t know, it felt like an invasion of privacy or something. Also, I’m not entirely sure I trust him? He’s too cryptic for me. Cryptic people always end up being the big bad.”

“That’s just Deaton,” Laura sighed, “Do you think Lydia would be willing to meet with me if I told her what was really going on in town?”

“Seriously?” Stiles’ eyebrows shot up to his hairline, “You want to drop the W-Bomb on Lydia?”

“We’re not calling it the W-Bomb,” Laura rolled her eyes, “and I don’t know…maybe?”

Stiles narrowed his eyes, “Laura, are you secretly trying to create an army of teenagers to take over the world?”

Laura groaned, “It’s not my fault that everyone who isn’t useless in this town is under 18! If Lydia can really sense these things then she might be able to help us, she may be able to tell us when the Rougarou is about to kill again and we can stop it…especially if it is Peter.”

Stiles looked up at the clouds and thought about what Laura was saying. Sure, it made sense in some ways. Lydia would throw herself into the world of the supernatural the same way she did anything else, with full commitment while striving for perfection. Lydia could help them, she might even be able to stop anyone else from getting killed if Laura’s theory was correct.

Still, Stiles had only known about everything for a little over a week and he’d almost already died like, three times and that was just in the last day and a half. Would he willingly expose Lydia to something so dangerous? Would Laura be able to keep two (possibly only one) humans safe under he watch?

Laura’s voice drew Stiles out of his thoughts, “Come on, Derek said Scott just finished up at practice and they’re heading over to our apartment. Derek had the car, so I ran here. I’ll show you how to get there.”

Stiles nodded as Laura got into the passenger’s seat of the Jeep. Stiles followed her directions silently, spending the entire drive trying to decide what to do about Lydia.

He still had no idea what to do by the time he reached Derek and Laura’s apartment.


	18. Possessed By a Rage Ghost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 100k+ words what the fuck

 

 

 

Chapter Eighteen

Possessed By a Rage Ghost

 

The first thing Derek noticed when returning to the apartment was Stiles’ Jeep parked conspicuously between a bright blue dumpster and the alleyway behind the apartment building. Derek sighed, realizing that Stiles was probably going for  _inconspicuous_. The last thing Derek or Laura needed was an overeager deputy to drive through their neighborhood, spot the Jeep, and then rush to tell the Sheriff that they saw his sons Jeep parked outside an apartment in the industrial district of town.

The Sheriff had a gun, and while Derek knew he couldn’t be killed by the bullets in it that didn’t mean it still wouldn’t hurt like a fucking bitch.

Scott hopped out of the Camaro as Derek pulled into his parking spot. Derek was surprised to learn that Scott was a quiet the entire ride. It seemed like Scott only ventured into the frenetic personality Derek had seen a handful of times when he was with Stiles or out training with Derek. It was probably a combination of Scott realizing that Derek wouldn’t be a very talkative partner, and Scott being exhausted from practice and then having to run a mile through the woods to meet Derek where the car was parked.

“This is your place?” Scott asked as he tipped his head up towards the top of the building.

Derek nodded, “For now. Laura put a down payment on a year’s worth of rent.”

Scott looked at Derek out of the corner of his eye, “So you’re here for at least a year?”

“She did the same thing in New York,” Derek shrugged, “and now we’re here. So who knows?”

Scott made a humming sound but otherwise kept his mouth shut as they walked inside the building. The lobby was thankfully empty; Derek didn’t want to deal with trying to justify having two teenagers in his apartment with his new neighbors.

Scott ran his fingers along the mailboxes, and Derek noted a strip of tape with Hale written in Laura’s distinct handwriting across the front of the mailbox for their apartment. There were only five other names out of the thirty or so mailboxes that lined the wall. Derek hadn’t realized that when the realtor said they didn’t have many neighbors, she actually meant that they only had five and that none of them were on either of the floors that Derek and Laura’s converted apartment took up.

“Not a lot of people live here.” Scott said as he turned towards the elevator.

Derek followed him in and hit the button to their floor, “The realtor said it’s a combination of the price and the area.”

Scott nodded awkwardly, “I guess there isn’t much around.”

“Yep.” Derek said, willing the elevator to move faster so he could be freed from the awkward small talk.

The elevator mercifully came to a stop and opened onto Derek’s floor. Derek slipped out of the elevator first and led Scott down the hallway to the door to the apartment. He slipped the key out of his pocket and opened the door, freezing in the entryway when he saw Laura sitting on a couch. A brand-new couch that was not there when Derek left the house earlier.

Laura looked up with a grin and swung her legs over the arm of the couch, “Furniture delivery came.”

“The furniture delivery I didn’t know about, apparently.” Derek said slowly.

“Dude!” Scott boomed, stepping around Derek, “that TV is sick!”

“It’s OK,” Laura shrugged, “I wanted a bigger one, but they were sold out.”

Derek’s eyes floated across the living room, landing on the gigantic TV mounted on the wall. An entertainment center sat under the TV, housing a sound system and evidently every video game console that Laura could find.

Laura saw Derek eyeing the entertainment center, “You can blame those on Stiles, he put forth a very good argument in favor of them.”

Derek raised a skeptical eyebrow, “I’m sure he did. How much did all of this cost?”

Derek was mentally tallying the living room in his head. In addition to the couch, TV, and entertainment center, there was a large area rug and two recliners facing the TV as well.

“A lot.” Laura said.

“Laura!” Derek snapped.

Laura rolled her eyes, “It’s not like we don’t have the money.”

Derek bit his bottom lip, struggling to keep from starting a fight when Stiles and Scott were around.

The fact that Laura had spent so much on what was supposed to be their temporary place to live in Beacon Hills, and the fact that she actually let Stiles have an input, made Derek think there was something Laura wasn’t telling him.

Maybe Laura didn’t want Beacon Hills to be so temporary after all.

“Where is Stiles?” Scott asked, drawing Derek out of his thoughts.

It slowly dawned on Derek that he hadn’t seen Stiles in the short time that he’d been home. Stiles, for better or worse, was almost always he first thing that anyone noticed when walking into a room. He tipped his head to the side and tried to pick out the sound of Stiles moving through the apartment until he heard the sound of someone walking up the stairs from the lower level of the apartment.

Stiles looked up as he reached the top landing of the stairs. He had a towel around his shoulders, though his skin was still damp, and he was wearing…Derek’s clothes.

Derek’s nostrils flared as he took in the sight of Stiles with one of Derek’s shirts on, the shoulders loose and the collar falling and revealing Stiles’ collarbones. Derek struggled to tear his eyes away from Stiles and when he finally did he found Laura leaning against the same wall as the TV and looking entirely too pleased with herself.

“Dude?” Scott asked as Stiles scrubbed the towel over his head.

Derek finally found his voice, “That’s my shirt.”

Stiles paused with the towel over his head, “Uh, yeah. Sorry.”

Derek’s eyes traveled down Stiles’ body to the baggy pair of basketball shorts he was wearing, “And my shorts.”

Scott snorted, “Are you wearing his underwear too?”

Derek choked on his spit and Stiles’ face turned a shade of red that Derek didn’t think humans were capable of.

“No!” Stiles sputtered, “I mean, I’m wearing underwear but they’re totally my underwear.”

Laura’s cackling laugh echoed through the living room, “Stiles spilled something on himself, I told him to take a shower and threw his clothes in the washer.”

When the fuck did they get a washer?

“And then you gave him my clothes?”

“Would you rather I gave him mine, little brother?” Laura challenged Derek with an all too knowing smirk.

Stiles was still standing awkwardly at the top of the stairs with a towel around his neck, “I’ll totally take them off.”

Scott and Laura howled with laughter in unison.

“Fuck!” Stiles stomped his foot, “I mean, after my clothes are done! I’ll wash these so my like…humanness isn’t all over your stuff.”

Derek’s mind was numb, he was lost for words.

“He’s just being grumpy,” Laura smirked, “he doesn’t like people playing with his things.”

Derek growled. He was going to kill his sister later.

Derek looked between Stiles and Scott who seemed to be having an entirely separate, and silent, conversation between themselves.

“Right!” Stiles startled when he realized Derek was watching him, “We’re here to talk about murder! Murder and dead people, not Stiles’ outfit!”

Laura dropped back down onto the couch, pulling Derek down with her. She used her strength to twist out from under him, forcing Derek to the side of the couch as she stretched out and rested her feet in his lap.

Derek ignored Laura, he was too busy plotting her death.

Stiles and Scott each took one of the new recliners and Stiles quickly reclined in his, stretching his long arms out and resting them behind his head. Stiles adjusted his injured arm, pulling the sleeve down to cover the bandage Derek had put on the wound the previous night.

Derek’s eyes didn’t linger on the expanse of skin exposed by the loose neck of his shirt when Stiles shifted in the chair again trying to get comfortable.

“What happened today?” Scott asked, “I barely saw you except for Econ.”

Stiles let out a drawn-out groan, “That project is gonna be a bitch, dude.”

“Right?” Scott echoed, “At least you don’t have to work with Jackson.”

Stiles hummed an ascent, “True, I got lucky with Lydia and Erica.”

“Speaking of Erica,” Scott leaned forward, “what was up with that? When did you two become friends?”

Stiles shrugged, “We’ve just been hanging out the last couple days at lunch, she’s really cool once you get to know her.”

Scott’s face broke out into a toothy grin, “Stiles has a crush!”

“What?” Stiles shook his head, “No way, no crushes for Stiles. I am the opposite of crushed, I am a fully three dimensional.”

Derek felt a low rumbling building in the back of his throat. Laura kicked him in the thigh and flashed him a warning glare.

Fuck.

“Boys!” Laura interrupted, “I thought we were talking about death and destruction.”

Derek sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face, “Yes, please tell me there is a point to all of this.”

Stiles stopped talking and looked between both of them before nodding, “Oh yeah, Lydia is totally psychic.”

“Wait, what?” Scott was the first to speak up.

Derek sat back and listened as Stiles explained his day to them. Scott couldn’t get over the fact that Stiles thought their friend Lydia might be some kind of psychic and constantly had to be steered back towards the conversation. Laura had obviously heard the story earlier and was only half paying attention, spending most of her time trying to give Derek meaningful looks and kicking him every time he stared at Stiles’ mouth for too long while he was talking without taking a breath.

It really wasn’t Derek’s day.

“Anyway, that’s all we found out from Deaton.”

“Lydia might be something, but Deaton doesn’t want to say what something she might be?”

“Pretty much,” Laura said, “he’s like a walking limerick.”

Stiles laughed, “Oh! I left out the best part! Laura wants to tell Lydia about everything!”

The room fell silent.

“Seriously?” Scott asked.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Derek’s voice was quiet and furious.

“Derek?” Stiles’ voice registered to Derek’s ears, but it felt like he was miles away.

Derek felt the anger building slowly inside of him like a pressure cooker. He could feel it slowly bubbling its way up his body, burning hot and white and threatening to scorch everything.

Derek clenched his fists and took a deep breath, “You should have talked to me before even mentioning it to them.”

“Der, it was just a vague suggestion, it’s not like there are actual plans or anything.” Laura said softly, obviously realizing the signs of an impending Derek freak out.

“It’s not the point!” Derek growled, “You keep doing things without telling me!”

Laura pulled her feet of Derek’s lap, “This is obviously about more than just telling someone else.”

“Of course it is!” Derek turned to face Laura, “It’s about everything! Beacon Hills, the apartment, the furniture, I feel like I’m just being pulled along without a say in anything.”

Laura sighed, “We both agreed to stay here until we got the Peter situation taken care of and Scott learned to control his abilities.”

“We agreed after you ignored everything I said and came back to Beacon Hills in the first place!”

“Derek, we talked about this already. You know I’m sorry, but you have to admit that we  _needed_  to come here.”

Derek wasn’t entirely sure why he was exploding like he was, he knew he’d been bottling things up for a while now with Laura, even before Beacon Hills. He loved his sister, but she had a history of making major decisions without talking to Derek beforehand.

It was all just too much. The Rougarou, Peter, their slowly growing Pack, Kate. It was all a lot to deal with at once, and Derek had reached his breaking point.

“We should go.” Stiles said, awkwardly standing up from the recliner.

“Yeah,” Scott agreed, “lots of homework and stuff.”

“No.” Laura and Derek both said in unison.

Stiles took a step backwards and Scott stood rooted in place, his eyes flickering between the siblings and the door to the apartment.

 Derek got up from the couch and walked towards the stairs to the lower level of the apartment, “You two stay, I’ll be downstairs.”

 

X

 

“That wasn’t awkward.” Stiles said as he stared at the spot where Derek had been standing before retreating down the stairs.

Laura sighed, “He can hear you.”

Stiles nodded, “And I’m sure he’d agree that it was awkward.”

The floor beneath Stiles’ feet thumped. Stiles jumped backwards and stumbled over the leg rest of the recliner

Scott laughed, “That was a shoe if you were curious.”

Laura’s eyes flashed red, and she jabbed a finger in Stiles’ direction, “If that fucks up my security deposit I’m making both of you pay me back.”

“We really should go,” Scott said, “you guys should probably talk without us here.”

Laura sighed and raked a hand through her hair, tossing it over her shoulder, “Derek and I will talk in a little while, I actually need to talk about something with you.”

“Me?” Scott’s eyes grew wide with worry.

“Calm down, I can hear your heart going crazy and I’m not even a werewolf.” Stiles laughed.

Scott glared at Stiles before turning back to Laura, “Did I do something wrong today? Derek watched us practice and said I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Laura smiled, “It’s nothing bad, it’s just something you might not want to hear.”

“It’s about Allison.” Scott said, once again surprising Stiles with how perceptive he was sometimes.

“She looked exhausted today, dude.” Stile said.

Scott blinked a few times, “She said she didn’t sleep well last night.”

Laura arched an eyebrow, “And what happened last night?”

Scott shook his head, “You don’t think she was one of the Hunters in the woods? She couldn’t be!”

Stiles grimaced, “She looked a little freaked when she realized my arm was hurt. The same arm that was shot with an  _arrow_.”

“So?” Scott challenge.

“ _So_ , Allison is like an Olympic level archer!”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Scott jutted his chin forward, “Laura said herself that a lot of hunters used bows and if Allison was the one who shot you then she’d probably hit you someplace worse than your arm since she’s so good at it.”

Stiles blinked, “Wait, it would take me getting shot somewhere worse than my arm to make you believe that your not-girlfriend tried to kill me? Do I have to be missing an eye? Or dead?"

Scott rolled his eyes, “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“Do I?” Stiles glared at Scott.

“Hey!” Laura interrupted them, “Knock it off!”

“Sorry.” Scott and Stiles said in unison as they took a step back from each other.

“I had a much more constructive way to go about this conversation, so thank you for that.” Laura said with a pointed look at Stiles.

Stiles hung his head and kicked awkwardly at the hardwood floor.

Laura sighed, “Why don’t I talk to Scott on my own?”

Stiles nodded, “Sure, I’ll just be…over here.”

Stiles pointed somewhere in the vaguely general direction away from Scott and Laura. He walked down the hall and headed towards the dryer, leaving Scott and Laura to talk in private. If anyone could get through to Scott about Allison it would be Laura, even if she had to use her scary Alpha eyes on him.

Stiles came to a stop in front of the dryer and found that his clothes were done. He pulled them out and bundled them in his arms before walking towards Laura’s bathroom to change. Laura probably made the right call to have him wash Kate’s scent off his clothes before Derek came home, but Stiles couldn’t stop thinking about Derek’s reaction to seeing Stiles in his clothes.

Derek had seemed angry, but there was something else beneath it that Stiles didn’t think he was equipped to figure out. At least, not now.

Stiles quickly changed into his own clothes, folding Derek’s and setting them on the counter while he checked his reflection in the mirror. He looked exhausted, dark circles sitting prominent under his eyes. Stiles let out a yawn before checking the bandage on his arm, he’d taped it up before taking a shower to stop it from getting wet, but he’d been obsessively checking it since he really didn’t want to explain to his dad how he ended up with an infected arrow wound.

Stiles briefly considered throwing Derek’s clothes in the washer but decided against it, he didn’t know if Derek did anything special to his clothes before washing him and he really did not want to be the one to fuck up any of Derek’s things.

Scott was still deep into a conversation with Laura when Stiles stuck his head around the corner, and Stiles was left with two options: stand awkwardly in the hallway not listening to them talk or to make the, probably stupid, decision to take the stairs down to Derek’s level of the apartment.

Stiles took a deep breath, bundled Derek’s clothes against his chest, and made his way to the stairs. Laura looked up when she heard Stiles, flashing him a brief smile before returning to her conversation with Scott.

Stiles hadn’t really looked at Derek’s living space when he was down there before, he’d mostly just made a line straight for the bathroom, so he could shower as quickly as possible. The only reason Stiles hadn’t used Laura’s shower was that he didn’t want to go home smelling like Warm Vanilla Sugar body wash.

It was sparsely decorated, with only a couch and a matching TV to the one upstairs. It was obvious that the kitchen had been pulled out of this apartment, making Derek’s floor appear more like a large den with an open floorplan.

Stiles stepped over a lone shoe in the middle of the room on his way towards the hall, looking up and wincing when he saw that Derek had indeed damaged the ceiling.

The other shoe was lodged into the plaster of the ceiling.

Stiles ignored it for the time being and hesitantly made his way down the hall to the door that he assumed led to Derek’s room. Stiles paused outside of the door, taking a few seconds to gather the courage to knock on the door. When Stiles finally did draw his hand back to knock on the door, the door opened just before Stiles’ knuckles hit it, and Stiles let out an involuntary yelp at the same time his closed fist fell onto Derek’s chest.

Derek looked down at Stiles, then his eyes drifted to Stiles’ hand on his chest, and back to Stiles.

“You were taking too long to knock.” Derek said, not moving.

“Right,” Stiles said, “sorry. Hi.”

“Hi.”

Stiles realized his hand was still on Derek’s chest and he awkwardly knocked on Derek’s unsurprisingly muscled pec. Just as Stiles was about to spontaneously combust into a pile of embarrassed ashes, Derek laughed.

Derek looked surprised, and a little scared, by the sound coming out of his mouth. He reached up and pushed Stiles’ hand away after smothering the laugh before stepping to the side and motioning for Stiles to come inside with the flick of his head.

Derek’s bedroom barely qualified as one. It was a mattress on the floor, a pile of suitcases in the corner, and an upside-down crate acting as a makeshift nightstand. Compared to Laura’s fully furnished room that Stiles had seen a glimpse of, it was clear that all Derek had used his for was a few hours of restless sleep.

“I’m surprised Laura didn’t furnish this too.” Stiles said.

Derek shook his head, “She knows better than that. She tried once and…it didn’t end well.”

Stiles cracked a smile, “Sounds like there’s a story in there somewhere.”

“Not so much a story as an entire bedroom set thrown out the fourth-floor window of a shitty New York apartment.”

“I take it Laura’s dedication to interior design is an ongoing struggle?” Stiles asked.

Derek sighed and sat on the edge of his bed, “Laura likes things to feel complete and put together, even if everything is actually falling apart at the seams.”

Stiles tipped his head upwards and eyed Laura’s general direction on the floor above.

Derek huffed, “She’s not listening, she’s giving me my privacy.”

“Ah,” Stiles said as he sat down on the floor in front of Derek, crossing his legs, “and what do you like?”

Derek looked startled, as if he hadn’t expected Stiles to ask. Or, more depressingly, like he didn’t even expect Stiles to care.

It made Stiles realize that he really didn’t know much about Derek. Or, rather, he didn’t know much about Derek that didn’t have to do with terrible memories of the past. He didn’t know what Derek liked to do for fun, what kind of music he liked, what his favorite movie was, or even what Derek liked to eat. Stiles surprised himself when he realized how much he wanted to know those things.

“I guess I like simplicity,” Derek said quietly, as if he was asking a question to himself, “I don’t really need a lot to feel comfortable.”

Stiles opened his mouth to respond but Derek kept talking.

“Laura tries to replace everything we lost in the fire, she buys stuff to fill wherever we live with everything mom would have wanted us to have. I get why she does it, but she’s always making impulsive decisions without talking to me. She’s the Alpha, so it’s not like she has to but...”

“But she’s your sister…” Stiles said, seeing where Derek was going.

Derek nodded, “She’s my sister, so sometimes I just want her to talk to me about things.”

Stiles let out a long breath, “I get it, it’s always the little things that set off fights with my dad. It’s never the fact that I was in the woods with a suspected murderer in the middle of the night, but it’s the fact that I didn’t wash a coffee mug, or that he left his jacket on the back of the couch instead of on the hook by the door.”

“Sounds about right.”

“We bottle things up with people we love, especially if they’re the last person we have.”

Derek smiled sadly, “It’s not very healthy.”

“Nope,” Stiles laughed, “but I think we might be able to let you off the hook for this one.”

“Why?” Derek asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Scott and I got into a fight after you and Laura, I’m pretty sure this place is haunted with like rage ghosts or something and they possessed us and made us act like assholes.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Laura would buy the one fucking haunted apartment in Beacon Hills.”

Stiles laughed, so hard he ended up falling onto his back, after he recovered he sat up and looked at Derek, “You’re funny.”

Derek glared at him, “I’m not funny, Stiles.”

“You are!” Stiles laughed again, “You’re not like, a standup comedian or anything but you’re just surprisingly funny.”

Derek tipped his head to the side, “That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

“Stop deflecting!”

“I’m not deflecting.”

“You’re totally deflecting.”

“Shut up.”

They fell silent for a few moments before Stiles realized he still had Derek’s clothes sitting in his lap. Stiles bundled them up and held them out to Derek.

“I can down here to bring these back to you, by the way.”

Derek eyed the clothes for a few minutes before slowly reaching out and taking them from Stiles. Derek’s fingers brushed over the palm of Stiles hand, sending shivers down Stiles’ spine.

Stiles coughed, “I was going to wash them, but I didn’t want to shrink them or anything.”

“It’s fine,” Derek said before her turned his head to the side awkwardly, “Laura and Scott are done talking, Scott’s ready to leave.”

Stiles cringed, “Oh god, is it bad?”

Derek shrugged, “I wasn’t listening to their talk. You should go though, before it gets too late.”

Derek stood from the bed and held out a hand to Stiles. Stiles reached up and grabbed Derek’s hand, shivering again as Derek’s hand closed completely around his. Derek hauled him up to his feet without Stiles having to put in any effort. Derek let go of Stiles’ hand and placed both of his hands on Stiles’ shoulders to steady him.

Derek’s hands lingered before he spoke, “Thank you. For talking.”

Stiles nodded, “Yeah, no problem.”

Stiles swallowed thickly as Derek let go of his shoulders and opened the door to the room, stepping out into the hallway before Stiles. Stiles followed Derek to the base of the stairs, stepping over the lone shoe again on the way there.

Stiles stopped behind Derek, “We should do something sometime.”

Derek turned around slowly, “What?”

Stiles took a deep breath, wondering where the random rush of bravery was coming from, “I mean, like hang out or something.”

“Hang out?” Derek repeated.

“Yeah,” Stiles said, “we’re friends, right?” Friends hang out and stuff.”

Derek still looked confused, “We hang out.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Yeah, and so far it’s only involved blood, the woods, monsters, or monsters in the woods while someone is bleeding. Let’s do something that doesn’t involve any of that.”

“OK.” Derek said.

“Wait, what?” Stiles didn’t think it would be that easy.

“Did you expect me to say no?" Derek asked.

“Maybe? Yes?” Stiles wasn’t ready for such a quick answer, “I had a whole sales pitch ready to go.”

Derek sighed, “You don’t have to give me a sales pitch, Stiles. We’ll do something that doesn’t involve blood, monsters, or the woods.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Stiles smiled, “Cool.”

Derek rolled his eyes and turned away from the stairs, “Go home, Stiles. And lock your window when you go to sleep tonight.”

Stiles was glad that Derek’s back was to him, because he couldn’t hide the smile that stretched across his face.

 

X

 

Derek waited until he heard Stiles’ Jeep pull away before he went upstairs to find Laura.

Laura looked up a smile when she heard Derek coming, “Look who decided to come out of his cave.”

Derek scowled at her before dropping down onto the couch next to her, crowding into her personal space and wedging himself in under her arm.

“Fuck off.” Derek said without any heat behind it.

Laura’s arm snaked around the back of Derek’s head, her finger finding their way to Derek's head and carding through his hair.

“Sorry.” Laura said.

“For?” Derek tipped his head up to look at her.

It was their tradition at this point, apologizing for everything before breaking it down for the other person.

“For everything,” Laura said, “for buying all the furniture, for not talking with you about Lydia before everyone else, for dragging you back here and making it somewhat permeant.”

Derek inhaled sharply, it was the first time that Laura had admitted that maybe she wouldn’t want to leave Beacon Hills after this was all over. He pushed the thought out of his mind, they could deal with that later.

“And?” Derek prompted.

Laura’s brow furrowed, “Is there something else I should be apologizing for?”

Derek glared at her, “You know exactly what.”

Laura chewed on her tongue for a moment before replying, “If you’re referring to my dressing Stiles in your clothes and sticking him in your shower, you should really be thanking me.”

Derek’s stomach flipped, he didn’t realize Stiles had been in his shower. Though now it made sense as to why Stiles had come from downstairs when Derek got home earlier.

Derek growled, “You knew exactly how I would react.”

Laura laughed, “I mean, I didn’t think you’d look so much like you wanted to tear him apart in the middle of the living room. And I mean that in the good, fun way and not the messy, bloody way.”

Derek turned away from her, “It wasn’t fair.”

Laura sighed, “Don’t be like that, Der. I’m just trying to help.”

“There’s nothing to help.” Derek said firmly, “Nothing is going to happen.”

“Really?” Laura’s voice was amused, “Did I not hear the both of you agree to go on a date?”

Derek coughed in surprise, “That wasn’t about a date.”

“Right,” Laura said skeptically, “it was just about two dudes, being dudes, and just hanging out totally platonically in a completely heterosexual way.”

“It’s not going to happen,” Derek said between his gritted teeth, “I’m not…I can’t.”

Laura was quiet for a moment, and then she spoke with a soft voice, “Alright. I promise I won’t push you.”

“Thank you,” Derek said, “And I’m sorry to.”

“For?”

“For being an asshole.”

“Damn right you were.”

 

X

 

Stiles hadn’t spoken to Scott since he dropped him off at home from Derek and Laura’s yesterday. Even that car ride had been awkward, with Scott simply saying bye before jumping out of the Jeep and heading inside as quickly as possible.

Stiles almost didn’t want to bother picking Scott up in the morning, but he wasn’t that heartless, so he woke up on time, got dressed, and left to pick Scott up for school.

Scott was waiting on the curb outside his house like he normally did. He wordlessly opened the door, threw his bag into the back seat next to Stiles’ and buckled his seat belt.

Stiles pulled off and headed towards the school.  

Stiles was content, and  _just_  petty enough, to ride out the silence until Scott decided to break it.  So Stiles drove through town with only the low humming of the radio breaking the wall of silence between him and Scott. It wasn’t until Stiles pulled onto that road that led to the school that he spoke.

“Laura doesn’t want me to be alone with Allison.” Scott said, looking out the window.

“OK,” Stiles said, “how do you feel about that?”

Scott shrugged.

Stiles struggled to not roll his eyes.

“Why does Laura get a shrug, but I get like, evil animal death glares?”

Scott turned from the window and gave him the evil animal death glare, “Because Laura doesn’t automatically assume that Allison is evil, she’s willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.”

“I didn’t say she was evil!” Stiles groaned, “I said she was suspicious!”

“You think she shot you with an arrow!”

“I don’t think she shot me  _knowing_  it was me, dude. There’s a difference.”

Scott sighed, “I hate this.”

“I know,” Stiles frowned, “I’m sorry.”

Scott was quiet for a few seconds, “Do you really think she was out there that night?”

Stiles slowed to a stop at the stop sign, “I think it’s possible.”

“It’s possible she wasn’t.” Scott said.

“Sure,” Stiles said, “but after Kate, I’d prefer not to underestimate that family.”

Stiles saw Scott looking at him from the corner of his eye, he feigned paying attention to the road to ignore Scott’s eyes.

“What do you mean after Kate? You said nothing happened.”

Stiles sighed, “I just mean Kate in general, we know she’s evil.”

Scott studied Stiles for a second longer, “You’re lying, I can hear it. What aren’t you telling me?”

Stiles was getting tired of not being able to lie to people for the sake of his own sanity. Luckily, the school came into view just in time to save Stiles from having to answer. Stiles slowed and turned his blinker on to pull into the parking lot, but he quickly braked when a car came flying past him.

Sirens blared in the distance and Stiles pulled off to the side as two more Sheriff’s vehicles came flying into the parking lot.

“What the hell?” Scott said.

Stiles looked at the front of the school and saw a large cluster of students, teachers, and police officers. Distantly, Stiles could see his dad talking to the principal.

“Oh no.” Stiles whispered, locking eyes with Scott.

“We need to get up there.” Scott said.

Stiles nodded and pulled into the parking lot, swinging around the corners to make it to his usual parking spot. Stiles’ phone buzzed from its spot in the cup holder and Scott reached down to grab it, flipping it over in his hand to read the front of the screen.

“It’s your dad.” Scott said.

Stiles shook his head, “Let it ring, he’s probably calling to tell me to come to school.”

Stiles’ parking spot was in sight, as was Lydia who was leaning against the tree in front of it.

“Is that Lydia?” Scott asked.

Stiles nodded, quickly pulling into the spot and turning off the car. He left his bag in the back seat as he jumped out of the Jeep, circling around the front and rushing over to Lydia.

Lydia looked exhausted. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun, a far cry from her usually cascading waterfall of hair. She looked pale, and there were large black bags under her eyes that matched Stiles own.

“Lyds?” Stiles asked as he stepped towards her.

Lydia looked up at Stiles, blinking in confusion as if she hadn’t even realized he pulled up in front of her only seconds before.

Lydia turned her head towards the front of the school, “Something bad happened last night.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay, i got a new laptop and have slowly been adjusting to the slightly different keyboard layout 
> 
> anyway, my favorite chapter is coming up soon. get hyped, it's gonna be lit.


	19. Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?

 

 

 

 

Chapter Nineteen

Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?

 

“What do you mean, Lydia?” Stiles asked under his breath.

Lydia shook her head and leaned her back against the tree, “I’d like to talk to you alone.”

“Did you see anything?” Scott asked, breaking into their conversation.

Lydia did a double take, and silently stared at Scott before letting her eyes drift towards Stiles.

Lydia narrowed her eyes, “Of course you told Scott.”

“Dammit.” Stiles mumbled under his breath before glaring at Scott.

“I should have known you would,” Lydia shook her head, “and we all know Scott couldn’t keep a secret to save his life so it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the school finds out I’m some schizophrenic freak.”

“You’re not schizophrenic, Lydia,” Stiles said automatically, “I had to tell Scott.”

Lydia rolled her eyes, “Spare me your bro-code bullshit.”

Stiles scrubbed both hands down his face, “That’s not why I told him. There’s not time now, but I’ll tell you everything later, I promise.”

Lydia shrugged, “I’m going home, I’m not sticking around all day with this mess outside.”

Lydia turned on her heel and slung her bag over her shoulder and she marched towards her car a few parking spots away.

“Wait!” Stiles said, rushing after her, “What happened last night? What did you feel?”

Lydia stopped walking for a fraction of a second, but she wouldn’t look at Stiles, “Go find out for yourself.”

Stiles turned back to the school as Lydia walked ahead and got into her car. He was torn between finding out what happened and trying to repair the newly broken trust with Lydia, but he’d known Lydia long enough to know that she’d need a while to cool off before she’d accept any apology from Stiles.

Stiles watched Lydia’s car pull out of the lot before he rushed back over to Scott.

“Good job there, Scotty.”

“Hey!” Scott protested, “You didn’t tell me not to say anything!”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “I figured it would be common sense!”

Scott’s shoulders dropped, “Sorry.”

Stiles shook his head, “It’s fine, there’s nothing I can do about it right now. We should go see what the hell happened.”

The scene at the front of the school grew more hectic as Scott and Stiles got closer. It seemed like the entire student body was gathered out front, broken off into clusters that were huddled together whispering and spreading the latest gossip. Even teachers weren’t immune to the effect, Stiles spotted dozens of them paying more attention to the police activity surrounding the school rather than the students they were supposed to be keeping in control.

Stiles noticed several familiar faces among the swarm of deputies, most of them giving him a grim look as he passed by. He thought about stopping to ask one of them what was happening, but he figured he’d have better luck with his own dad if he could find him.  

“Have you seen Allison?” Scott asked, “What if something happened to her?”

Stiles bit his tongue and searched through the crowd, pushing through a group of students so he could get a better view from higher ground. Stiles dodged a few more kids as he climbed the stairs at the front of the school and scanned the crowd from the new vantage point.

He spotted Allison almost immediately, and she was with Kate. They were standing close together, right next to the yellow caution tape that had the bus pick up and drop off area roped off. Kate was pointing at something just beyond Stiles’ view and Allison was nodding frantically.

“There.” Stiles pointed towards Allison and Kate, “Surprise, surprise.”

Scott sucked in a sharp breath, “Maybe she’s just making sure Allison stays safe.”

Stiles bit his tongue, now wasn’t the time to go in on Scott’s naiveite.

“We need to find my dad,” Stiles said, “Can you hear him?”

Scott turned his head to the side for a few seconds before groaning and shaking his head, “There’s too many voices.”

“Old fashioned way then.” Stiles said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Stiles’ eyes drifted back towards Kate, Allison was gone now.

“Should we call Derek and Laura?” Scott asked.

Kate turned her head, her eyes drifting across the sea of students before she locked eyes with Stiles. Stiles swallowed the lump in his throat and tore his eyes away from her.

“Not until we know what actually happened.”

Stiles dialed his dads number by heart.

“Stiles, where are you?” His dad answered.

“I was calling to ask you the same thing?” Stiles said, “I’m at the front of the school.”

“Stay where you are, I’ll come to you.”

The line went dead.

Stiles looked back across the courtyard to where Kate was standing before, but he found the spot empty. There was no sign of Allison or Kate at all.

“I don’t smell Allison anymore.” Scott said.

Stiles blinked, “You can _smell_ her?”

Scott gave him a bashful smile, “Yeah, like, all the time whenever she’s around.”

“Dude,” Stiles held back a gagging sound, “that’s weird as fuck.”

“Stiles!” The Sheriff’s voice interrupted Scott’s reply, “Scott, good you’re here too.”

“What’s going on, dad?” Stiles asked, using his best clueless teenager impression.

The Sheriff shook his head, “They’re about to announce that school is canceled for today, you boys should get a head start before you’re stuck in the parking lot.”

Stiles wasn’t letting his dad deflect like that, “Dad, c’mon, what the hell happened?”

“Language.” the Sheriff chided before sighing and pulling Scott and Stiles into the building and away from the ever-growing crowd, “Don’t repeat anything. Go straight from here to your car.”

 “Yes sir.” Scott nodded.

Stiles gave Scott a side eye.

“Someone was killed early this morning on School property,” the Sheriff said, his voice low, “it was a bus driver.”

“Holy shit.” Stiles said, before correcting himself, “Sorry.”

“Is this connected to the other killings?” Scott asked, “First Mr. Harris, then the guy at the video store, and now this one?”

The Sheriff shook his head, “Don’t speculate, Scott.”

Stiles worried his lip between his teeth, if they told his dad everything right now it could solve so many problems.

“You boys just go back to my house,” the Sheriff said, breaking through Stiles’ thoughts, “I’ve already talked to Melissa, she said she wants Scott to stay at our house until she gets off work in a few hours.”

Stiles nodded, “Yeah, we’ll head home now.”

The Sheriff pulled Stiles into a quick hug, “Text me when you’re home.”

Stiles broke apart from the hug feeling slightly guilty, “OK. Stay safe, dad.”

The Sheriff smiled and turned his attention to the buzzing radio on his chest, “I’ve got to go, the principal is about to give the announcement.”

Stiles watched his dad disappear down the hallway, probably heading towards the principal’s office, and he grabbed Scott by the elbow as soon as he dad was far enough away. Scott protested as Stiles pulled him out of the front door of the school and towards the parking lot.

“Dude!” Scott yelped.

“You heard my dad,” Stiles said as they kept walking, “this place is going to be a mad house in a few minutes. I don’t think either of us want to be stuck in jammed up parking lot with nowhere to go while Kate is prowling around somewhere.”

“Stiles!” A voice called from across the parking lot.

Stiles stopped and spun around a few times to find the source of the voice, his eyes eventually falling on Erica. Erica was in her usual hoodie, though her hair was down today and blew through the wind as she jogged towards Stiles.

“Ixnay on the erewolvesway.” Stiles said under his breath.

Scott cocked his head to the side, “What?”

“No werewolves!” Stiles hissed just before Erica stopped in front of them.

Erica was out of breath after the short run, “Do you have any idea what happened here? I overheard a few people saying someone was murdered.”

Stiles looked awkwardly off to the side, “I’ve been told not to spread rumors or false information.”

“Right,” Erica nodded, “Sheriff’s son and all.”

Stiles gave her a tight smile, “I do have it on good authority that the principal is about to announce that classes are canceled today and that we should get off the campus before that happens and everyone tries to leave at once.”

“Shit,” Erica sighed, “my parents are at work, there’s no way I’m getting out of here.”

Stiles looked at Scott to ask a silent question, when Scott shrugged Stiles turned back to Erica, “I can take you home if you want? Or wherever you want me to take you?”

Erica gave Stiles a bright smile, “Seriously? You’re such a life saver, Stilinski.”

Stiles waved her away, “It’s no big deal.”

Erica pulled her phone out and took a few steps away before pressing the phone against her ear. Stiles turned away so he wasn’t eavesdropping.

“I figured you’d want to rush over to Laura and Derek’s.” Scott said.

Stiles shrugged, “There’s not really much we can do right now? It’s not like Derek or Laura can just hop over some police tape in the middle of the day to sniff around the crime scene, especially with Kate lurking god knows where.”

“True.” Scott said, “Do you think they know about this yet?”

Stiles shook his head, “I don’t think so. There aren’t even any news trucks here, it probably hasn’t hit mainstream yet.”

“I guess I’ll text her then.” Scott said, quieting down as Erica hung up her phone.

“My dad said he was planning on leaving work early today anyway so if I could just hang out at your house for an hour or two he can come pick me up from there?” Erica said hesitantly.

Stiles flashed Erica a bright smile, “Totally fine. Just a warning though, Scott and I aren’t great company.”

Erica rolled her eyes, “Stiles, I literally have no friends, any company is good company.”

“Congratulations, you just said the most depressing sentence of the day! Your reward is getting to sit in the front seat while Scott gets wedged in the back seat with all of our shit.”

“Hey!” Scott yelped.

“Sweet.” Erica smiled as they reached the Jeep.

Stiles pulled his front seat forward so Scott could crawl in the back. When everyone was in place he checked his seat to make sure it was in his favorite position before cranking the Jeep and pulling out of his parking spot.

They reached the stop sign that led out of the parking lot just as the principal’s voice crackled over the intercom and announced that school was canceled for the day and that classes would resume as scheduled on Monday.

“What a way to get a three-day weekend.” Stiles mumbled morbidly as he pulled off campus.

 

X

 

The ride back to Stiles’ house was a mostly quiet affair, due in part to Erica’s own awkwardness. Stiles tried a few times to engage her into a conversation he was having with Scott, but it usually just ended in Erica adding one of two words before turning to look back out the window. Stiles couldn’t blame her, he knew more than anyone how weird it was to be thrust into uncomfortable social situations with people you barely knew.

Stiles pulled into his driveway and parked the Jeep. Erica waited to open her door until Stiles opened his and hopped out of the Jeep. Stiles lowered the seat so Scott could crawl out before meeting Erica at the front and motioning her to follow him to the front door.

Stiles flipped his key ring in his hand, “I’ll unlock the door for you and then come back to help Scott get our stuff, help yourself to anything in the kitchen if you want. It’s the first room to the right, you literally can’t miss it.”

Stiles opened the door and held it for Erica, who smiled and stepped inside. Once she was in the house, Stiles jogged back over to Scott who was struggling to carry three backpacks at once.

“Really?” Stiles deadpanned, “Don’t you have super strength now?”

Scott growled, actually growled, “These are a lot heavier than they look!”

Stiles’ reply was cut off by a deafening scream coming from inside his house. Scott immediately dropped all three bags and darted into the house. It took Stiles a second to recover, his eyes lingered on the abandoned pile of bookbags until another scream from Erica took him out of his trance.

Stiles ran into the house as fast as he could, skidding to a stop on the tiled floor of the kitchen. Scott was standing in front of Erica, or rather, Erica was using Scott as a human shield, and looked utterly confused. Stiles’ eyes drifted to the back door of the house and he froze when he realized what the cause of all the commotion was.

Derek stood outside, just visible through the panes of glass that ran across the top of the back door. Derek’s eyes were comically wide.

“What’s he doing here?” Erica’s quivering voice was the first sound Stiles had heard since he ran inside.

“Him?” Stiles asked, his voice a couple octaves higher than normal, “He’s totally fine. That’s just my…cousin!”

Scott looked even more confused now, “Your cousin? What?”

“Yeah!” Stiles glared at Scott, “My cousin, you know, you’ve met him before. My cousin…Miguel!”

Stiles could just make out Derek mouthing the name.

Erica finally let go of Scott’s shoulder and straightened herself, running her hands down the front of her sweater to smooth it out. When she turned to Stiles she looked angry, “Really? Your cousin?”

“Yes?” Stiles answered, slightly unsure.

“Your cousin looks an awful lot like Derek Hale, accused _murderer_ Derek Hale.”

“Really?” Stiles cocked his head to the side, “I guess I can kinda see it.”

Stiles looked at the back door and sighed in relief when he realized that Derek was gone.

“I’m not stupid, Stilinski. Don’t treat me like I am.” Erica jammed a finger into Stiles chest.

“Ow,” Stiles rubbed his chest, “I don’t think you’re stupid.”

“Really?” Erica challenged, “Then start by telling me why Derek Hale was on your back porch.”

“I…don’t know.” Stiles answered, half honestly.

“Oh, you don’t?” Erica pulled out her phone, “Then I guess I’ll just call the police, they’d love to know that an accused murder suspect is creeping around the Sheriff’s house and looking in windows.”

Erica made it to the first one of 911 before Stiles lunged forward waving his hands, “No! Don’t!”

Erica took a step backwards, just out of Stiles’ reach, and held her finger menacingly over the final one, “Are you going to tell me why I just had the shit scared about of me in your house? Was this some kind of joke?”

“What?” Stiles shook his head, “No! Jesus, Erica. No.”

Scott finally spoke, “Derek was here because I texted him.”

Erica slowly turned towards Scott, “Why?”

“Because I told him what happened at school,” Scott said, “I didn’t tell him you were with us or he wouldn’t have showed up.”

Erica lowered her phone before putting it back in her pocket, “So you’re…friends with Derek Hale?”

Scott shrugged and looked to Stiles for an answer  

Stiles let out a breath of air and pinched the bridge of his nose, there was no point in lying anymore. Erica was too smart, and Stiles liked her too much to insult her like that.

 “Yes, we’re friends with Derek.”

“Why did you lie to me then?” Erica asked.

“Because you were freaked out and through he was here to kill you or something.” Stiles said, “I don’t know! I panicked!”

Erica crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, “I take it your dad doesn’t know?”

“Obviously not,” Stiles shook his head, “Why else would I try to tackle you to stop you from calling him?”

“Point taken.” Erica rolled her eyes, “That was super rude, _by the way_.”

Stiles shrugged, “Yeah. Sorry.”

Stiles looked up to find Scott and frowned when he wasn’t anywhere in sight. The backdoor was ajar. Stiles wondered if Scott had gone to look for Derek.

“Why are you friends with Derek Hale? How are you friends with Derek Hale?” Erica asked.

Stiles groaned, “Can we stop with using his full name?”

“No.”

Stiles groaned again, “I met him when he got to town and essentially forced him to be my friend.”

“Seems like a pattern.” Erica said pointedly.

“He’s not a murderer, just so you know. I was with him the night Harris got murdered.”

Erica arched an eyebrow, “And what were you doing with Derek Hale in the middle of the night?”

“It wasn’t the middle of the night!” Stiles balked, “And he was…helping me fix my Jeep when it broke down. He couldn’t cut Harris’ head off, he was too greasy for it.”

Stiles flinched when he heard a choking sound come from outside. He prayed that Erica didn’t hear it.

“I didn’t actually think he was going to kill me.” Erica said.

Stiles cocked his head to the side, “You sure seemed like you did.”

“I was just surprised, I didn’t expect to see him here” Erica rolled her eyes before adding, “I’ve actually met his sister a few times.”

“Laura?” Stiles questioned.

He remembered Laura mentioning meeting Erica but Stiles didn’t want to give that away, so he sat quietly and waited for an answer.

Erica nodded, “Yeah, she’s kinda a bad ass.”

“She really is.” Stiles smiled, “Way cooler than Derek.”

Erica finally relaxed her shoulders and dropped into a chair at the kitchen table, “Well this has been a weird day.”

Stiles laughed, “It’s not even 10am.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Scott quietly slipped in the back door as Erica put her head down on the table silently. Stiles looked at Scott with a question in his eyes, but Scott shook his head, mouthing the word ‘later’. Stiles looked out the back window in time to see Derek’s back as he was retreating into the woods behind the house.

 

X

 

Laura waited until a little after 4:30am until she deemed it safe enough for her and Derek to investigate the crime scene at the school. Derek had tried all day to make a case for going earlier, saying that the police could remove evidence they’d need, or that the smells would all get jumbled together. Laura had remained steadfast in her position, there was no way they were going to the scene until it was night time and the police had reliably cleared out. She knew the Argent’s would be around once the sun went down as well, it would have been insane if they weren’t, and she hoped that choosing such a random and late time would throw them off.

“We have a little under two hours until sunrise.” Laura said as she checked he watch on their walk through the forest.

“I still think we should have come earlier.” Derek said, a little disgruntled.

Derek had been on edge all day, ever since he got back from Stiles. He wouldn’t talk about anything, but Laura had known Derek long enough to realize the signs that he was in a mood about something. She left him alone for the most part, it was a stressful day for them both and she’d hoped that letting Derek stew on his own would put him in better shape for their nighttime activity.

“Earlier meant police and hunters,” Laura shook her head, “I don’t think we’ll be here for long anyway.”

Derek was silent as they ran the rest of the way. They’d left the Camaro back at the apartment and had decided to run the way to school since it was easier for them to hide among the trees rather than risk being seen in a very recognizable vehicle.

“Remember, we’re looking for any trace of the witch who’s in control of the Rougarou.”

Derek shook his head, “Why do we keep calling it the Rougarou? It’s Peter.”

Laura shook her head, “No. We don’t know for sure.”

Derek sighed, “Who else could it be?”

Laura stopped walking, “I don’t know. But we don’t know for certain that it’s Peter. I know I said a lot of stuff when we first came back…about how we’d deal with Peter. But it was wrong. Totally wrong. As far as I’m concerned, the Rougarou isn’t Peter unless I see it for myself.”

Laura had been eating herself up inside with guilt about how she intended to take car of Peter when they first got back into town. She was pissed off and confused and resorted to the one tactic that made sense.

Violence.

Violence had been one of the only constants in Laura’s life. It took everyone from her years ago, and she used it whenever she needed to in the years that followed. Laura was hardly the moral compass of their rag tag group, but she was trying to change.

Derek nodded after a few seconds of look at Laura, “If that’s how you want to go with this.”

“I do.” Laura said, “Come on, we’re close.”

They walked for a few more minutes before the woods spat them out on the edge of the old practice field.

Laura listened closely to their surroundings. It sounded like they were alone. She knew there would usually be a car left behind to watch the scene overnight, but the Sheriff’s Department was already spread so thin investigating the two other murders that there probably weren’t enough officers that could be spared. It made things a hell of a lot easier.

Not that Laura was happy that two other people were dead.

But it still made things easier.

They moved across the campus quickly, still sticking to the shadows just to be safe. The wind blew around them as they made their way towards the front of the school. Laura pulled her leather jacket tighter around her body to fight off the chill that was creeping into her spine, but something told Laura that the chill had nothing to do with the bite that the wind had.

“You smell it?” Derek asked, breaking the silence as they approached the lines of caution tape that cordoned off the entrance to the bus loop.

The smell was unmistakable, Laura had picked up on it the second the wind blew. The Rougarou had been there alright.

Derek pulled out two sets of rubber gloves and tossed one to Laura, “Before I forget. They have your prints in the system.”

“Yours too.” Laura rolled her eyes as she slipped the gloves on.

Derek finally cracked a smile, “Nope. They never fingerprinted me.”

Laura glared at him, “Asshole.”

Laura ducked under the tape first. The loop had been cleared out except for the lone bus that the body was found in. The entire bus itself was wrapped in caution tape, but all the windows were down, and Laura could smell the scent of stale blood mixed in with the musk of the Rougarou.

“First someone at the video store, now a bus driver.” Derek said, “It’s purposely random.”

Laura nodded, “Someone is fucking with us for sure, and they’re doing it in a way that sends the actual authorities running around in circles.”

Laura knew that the Sheriff was hard at work trying to draw connections between the two victims, trying to make sense out of a pattern that didn’t exist. The only possible connections any of the victims had was the bus driver, but he was only connected to Harris, who wasn’t connected to any of these murders.

As if he read Laura’s mind, Derek said, “They’re probably trying to connect Harris to the other two.”

Laura nodded, “But we know that Kate was responsible for Harris.”

Laura noticed how rigid Derek went at the mention of her name, but she pretended she didn’t notice. Laura walked the perimeter of the bus while she waited for Derek to find his bearings again, not finding anything suspicious.  

“I wonder if the witch is taking advantage of that too, maybe it inspired her plan.” Laura said as she came around the back of the bus and stopped in front of Derek.

Derek laughed bitterly, “I’m sure Kate must be honored.”

“At least that gives us an advantage.” Laura smiled.

“What do you mean?” Derek asked.

“Think about it, we know something that the police and the hunters don’t. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Argent’s thought that Harris’ death was connected to everything too.”

Derek shook his head, “There’s no way the Argent’s don’t know about Kate killing Harris. She went to the police to blame me.”

“Kate’s always operated on her own wavelength,” Laura said, “I don’t like Chris, but I also don’t think he’d just shoot us on sight. I don’t think Chris would be down with Kate killing a human just to get you into a police station in hopes that you lose control and kill someone for real.”

Derek scoffed, “I’m glad you have so much faith in the Argents.”

“Der,” Laura said softly, “I don’t have faith, it’s just a hunch.”

“A hunch that will get you killed.”

Laura ran her hand through her hair and tossed it over her shoulder, “We don’t have a lot of time left before sunrise, can we table this discussion for later?”

“Whatever.” Derek said, “Let’s look inside the bus.”

Laura hung back while Derek walked ahead. She didn’t know how to convey to him that she didn’t trust Chris Argent, but that she just thought that he’d at least not be OK with his sister running around killing humans just to trap a werewolf.

“Laura, get in here.” Derek’s voice broke though Laura’s thoughts.

Laura jogged over to the bus and stopped in her tracks when she hit the first step. The smell was overwhelming. The scent of the Rougarou poured from every inch of the bus, mixing in with the smell of blood, sweat, and fear.

The seats were torn to shreds, jagged claw marks ripped into the vinyl and the padding inside spilled out. A few windows were shattered. A long set of claw marks ran across the roof of the bus, the metal warped and pried open as if the Rougarou tore its way into the bus from the top.

“Jesus.” Laura said out loud, “How are the police even going to justify this?”

Derek shook his head, “I have no idea.”

They couldn’t investigate the video store so Laura had no idea what kind of state the scene was in, but she was fairly sure that there weren’t signs that something had torn through a metal roof there.

“This is bad.”

There were two dried puddles of blood on the floor, both a few feet apart from each other. The first, which was hallway up the length of the bus, was the largest. The second, closer to the rear emergency exit, was smaller.

“It ripped his head off.” Derek said as he examined the two bloodstains.

Laura nodded and pointed to the larger one first, “The body fell here.”

Derek continued, standing in front of the smaller one, “And the head landed here.”

“Harris’ head was almost ripped off too.” Laura added.

Derek opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it and turned his head towards one of the broken windows of the bus.

“Someone’s coming.” Derek said.

“Fuck.” Laura said, “It can’t be Stiles or Scott, I didn’t tell them anything about this, so they wouldn’t show up.”

“Five people,” Derek whispered, “moving quickly, at least three rifles between them.”

“Totally not Scott and Stiles then.” Laura shook her head, “They sound close.”

“We can still make it out before they get here.” Derek said, “And if not, we can take them in a fight.”

Laura shook her head, “It’s not the police, it’s the Argent’s. If we run now then we look guilty. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

Derek narrowed his eyes, “Remember when I told you that hunch of yours was going to get you killed.”

Laura sighed, “We need to talk to them at some point, Der. Or I do, at least as the Alpha of this area.”

“Mom tried to maintain a relationship with the Argent’s and look what happened.”

Laura’s heart skipped a beat. It was a low blow, even for Derek. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and counted to ten. Now wasn’t the time for them to fight, now if they were about to face down a group of hunters and walk out alive.

“Text Stiles and Scott, tell them what’s happening.” Laura said when she opened her eyes.

“Why?” Derek asked.

“So that they’ll know what happened to us if we don’t come back.”

Derek was quiet for a moment, but he eventually took out his phone and tapped out two texts. Laura didn’t miss how he took longer to send the second one than the first, and she had a hunch about who the second one was sent to.

The group of hunters were just around the corner now, rounding the front of the school. Laura walked out of the bus first, with Derek following closely behind her. She stood a few feet away from the entrance of the bus loop with her arms crossed over her chest. She specifically stood in front of Derek, blocking him from any kind of danger.

“Relax.” Laura said softly.

“Kate isn’t with them.” Derek gritted out, “I don’t smell her.”

Laura nodded. That took a bit of pressure off her chest. She swallowed as the beams from the hunters’ lights washed over the front of the bus loop.

A group of five people rounded the corner next, the three men in front dressed in all black with three rifles held out at the ready. The hunters froze when they sported Derek and Laura. The light from their night vision goggles shone though the darkness and they pointed their guns at them.

Laura could already smell the wolfsbane in their bullets.

“Wait!” A voice broke out from behind the three hunters.

“Move aside.” The voice said.

The three hunters stepped apart almost immediately, two moving to the right and one moving to the left, revealing Chris Argent.

Chris was dressed similarly in all black, though his goggles were around his neck and he carried a crossbow rather than a rifle. Chris hefted the crossbow in his hands, letting it swing across Laura’s path before it came to a rest of his shoulder.

“Alpha Hale.” Chris said, “Derek.”

Derek didn’t say anything.

“Chris,” Laura said with as much cheer as she could muster, “funny running into you here.”

Chris arched an eyebrow, “Yes, I’m sure it was a complete coincidence.”

Another voice, a female, came from behind Chris, “You know what they say, the murderer always returns to the scene of the crime.”

The fifth and fine hunter stepped up and came to a stop next to Chris. It took Laura a moment to realize who she was.

She had short red hair and wore a turtle neck and dark pants. A silver pistol dangled from her fingers and she had a set of knives strapped to her thigh.

Victoria Argent. 


	20. A Speeding Bullet

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty

A Speeding Bullet

 

“Victoria, it’s been a long time.”

Derek didn’t understand how Laura was able to speak to these people without ripping their throats out. He was just barely holding back his own claws when it was only Chris Argent in front of him, the addition of Victoria Argent was taking every ounce of control that Derek had left and sending it through a meat grinder.

“Not long enough.” Victoria mused.

She kept her silver pistol dangling limply in her hands, but they were in such close proximity that Derek doubted his ability to get it away from her before she could ready if it he had to.

Laura only politely smiled at Victoria.

Victoria sighed, “I thought you’d know better than to ignore the rules that our people have thrived by for years.”

Derek scoffed, “Yeah, thrived.”

Victoria glared at him.

“What do you mean?” Laura asked.

“It’s tradition for any Alpha to introduce themselves to the head of the local hunters before invading their land. Not only did you not do that, but right after you and your brother return to town there seemed to be in influx of dead bodies. What are we supposed to think of that, Alpha Hale?”

“Your land?” Derek snarled.

Laura turned and gave Derek a look to calm him down. Derek closed his eyes and breathed slowly as he felt his teeth return to normal.

“There must be some kind of misunderstanding, I was under the impression that I spoke with the Argent Matriarch.” Laura said.

Victoria narrowed her eyes, “Excuse me?”

Laura shrugged, “I ran into Chris and your daughter at the grocery store the day after I got back to town. I spoke to him, informed him why I was in town, and made sure to give my thanks to Allison.”

Victoria’s eyes went wide, and she immediately turned to Chris, “You never said anything about this!”

 “I didn’t think it was important, I thought Miss Hale would be gone from town soon after that.”

“I did my duty,” Laura said, “I’m not at any fault for your communication errors.”

Victoria turned back to Laura, “You did not introduce yourself to the matriarch.”

Derek felt his eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. _Victoria_ was the matriarch?

Laura cocked her head to the side, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know the Argent’s allowed Matriarchs outside of the family now. It’s been quite a while since I’ve spoken to one.”

Victoria’s eyes burned with anger, “I am an Argent.”

“Not by blood.” Laura said, “I actually remember when Chris’ mother wasn’t considered for the Matriarch position because she wasn’t an Argent by blood. If things have changed within the ranks since then, I’m glad. It never seemed fair to me that even an organization that valued women so much they let them lead wouldn’t allow a woman to lead if she didn’t pass an arbitrary rule that was put into place by a man.”

Victoria’s hand twitched and her grip on the gun tightened. Derek saw Chris’ eyes register the movement and he took a step forward, placing his hand on Victoria’s arm.

“The inner workings of our family are of no concern to you; however, Victoria is acting Matriarch for the moment. Once Allison comes of age then she will take over.”

“My apologies then.” Laura said, though Derek couldn’t miss the smile that pulled at the corner of her mouth. Laura had set out to get a reaction out of Victoria and she got it.

“We would like to speak to you about the deaths in town.” Victoria said after another second.

Laura shook her head, “There’s no need. We both know Derek and I are not the ones responsible for them.”

“And how do we know that?” Victoria challenged.

“Because Derek and I were attacked by a group of hunters in the preserve the other night as we were fighting what is responsible for the killings. So either there’s another group of hunters in your territory, or you think that Derek and I are the ones going around ripping people apart and not the giant monster you failed to kill while trying to kill us.”

Chris took a deep breath, “No one was trying to kill you.”

Derek scoffed, “You could have fooled me.”

“And what about your second Beta?” Victoria asked.

“What do you mean?” Laura shook her head, “It’s only Derek and I.”

Victoria rolled her eyes, “One of our hunters reported seeing a set of golden eyes in the preserve that night.”

“Did either of you see it?” Laura asked, angling her head between Victoria and Chris.

Chris shook his head, “No, but we have no reason to doubt the person who did. They very clearly heard voices and saw a set of golden eyes in the darkness. We know that neither you nor Derek have golden eyes, so the only explanation that you’ve brought a second Beta to town. Or worse, that you’ve turned someone since being here.”

“I haven’t turned anyone, but even if I had, it wouldn’t violate the code.” Laura said easily.

“It would if you turned someone against their will.” Chris challenged.

Laura laughed, “Seriously?”

Victoria narrowed her eyes, “This is no laughing matter. Not only do we have to worry about you and your brother being in town, we now have to worry about the killings and the possibility that you could have a rabid Beta right under our noses.”

“If I had bitten someone while I was here do you really think I’d be off investigating crime scenes in the middle of the night while leaving that Beta alone? It’s just Derek and I, where else would this magical Beta be?”

Victoria arched a single eyebrow, “We’re keeping a very close eye on you.”

Laura rolled her eyes, “Yes, just like how Kate was keeping such a close eye on my brother that she accused him of a murder he didn’t commit. I might be rusty with the code, but does intentionally trying to expose the supernatural to a department full of police just to further some petty vengeance fall under doing no harm to humans?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Chris stepped forward, “Kate had only just gotten to town when the chemistry teacher was murdered, Kate would never speak to the police about it if she thought he was killed by a werewolf. She’s not that reckless.”

“Like you said, the inner workings of your family are not my business.”

“We have no reason to speak to you.” Derek growled, “We have no reason to trust you. My mother trusted you, I trusted…”

“Derek.” Laura whispered.

“No!” Derek glared at her, “My family trusted your family and they were burnt alive. We don’t have to introduce ourselves to you or turn ourselves over to be fucking monitored. We’re not the dangerous ones here, you fucking are.” 

“You watch your tone with me.” Victoria glared at Derek.

Derek flashed his eyes at her, “Or what?”

Victoria’s reply was stopped by Laura as she steeped between them. Laura turned to Derek and glared, though Derek noted that her eyes weren’t red.

“We’re leaving.” Laura said, grabbing Derek by the crook of his elbow and pulling him to the other side of the bus loop.

They ignored Victoria’s protests behind them and kept silent until the reached the chain link fence at the edge of the parking lot. They scaled it quickly and walked towards the edge of the forest, disappearing into the tree line and breaking out into a run back to the Camaro.

Neither of them spoke as they ran, but Derek was prepping himself for a tongue lashing of epic proportions from Laura once that stopped. Derek didn’t care, he’d take a million verbal spats with his sister over playing pretend with respecting the Argent’s.

The Camaro came into sight and they slowed to a jog that turned into a leisurely walk the closer they got to the car. Derek kept glancing at Laura out of the corner of his eye, waiting for her to get angry with him but the only time Laura spoke was when she tossed him the keys to the car.

“You drive,” Laura smiled, “I’m exhausted.”

“Seriously?” Derek said as he caught the keys midair.

Laura looked at Derek like he’d grown another head, “Did you not want to drive? You always want to drive? You cry like a child when I don’t let you drive.”

Derek glared at her, “I do not cry.”

“Whatever you say.” Laura laughed, “Seriously though, what’s wrong? You look like you’re waiting for me to yell at you about something. Did you not do the laundry like I asked?”

“You’re not mad?” Derek asked.

“Derek, if my nice shirts are sitting at the bottom of the washing machine getting moldy and nasty I’m going to be fucking pissed.”

Derek shook his head, “You’re not mad about back there?”

Laura’s eyebrows drew together, “Why would I be mad?”

“Because you were trying to be diplomatic and I threated to rip Victoria Argents arms off and beat her to death with them.”

Laura smiled brightly, “I would literally pay to see that. And no, I’m not mad at you.”

“You talked about having to be civil with them though.”

Laura frowned and pulled Derek into a tight hug, “I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget that you never…you never got to have any lessons with mom.”

Derek pushed Laura back until they were face to face, “Lessons?”

Laura’s frown was replaced with a fond smile, “Mom always knew I’d be the next Alpha, she trained me bit by bit for a year or two before she died. We never got into big specifics, but she always told me how I needed to at least try and be respectful to any hunters I came across. Most hunters see us as animals and if we’re nice to them it throws them off. It’s my job as an Alpha to be diplomatic.”

“What about me?” Derek asked.

“Mom always said it was the Alpha’s job to be nice to the hunters, not anyone else.” Laura grinned, “She used to take Peter with her to negotiate with them, she called it the ultimate game of good cop/bad cop.”

Derek laughed and ran a hand through his hair, “I was ready for you to be angry.”

Laura rolled her eyes again and flicked him on the tip of the nose, “In any case, we don’t have to worry about respecting Victoria. She’s not the one calling the shots, even if she thinks she is.”

“I noticed that too.” Derek said.

It wasn’t obvious at first, but the more Victoria spoke the more it seemed like the only person who was buying was she was selling was herself. Chris didn’t even look like he respected his wife as their leader.

“That means that either Allison is really in charge and they’re trying to protect her so we don’t find out…” Laura trailed off.

“Or Kate decided to take over.” Derek shuddered. He felt the bile creeping up the back of his throat, but he swallowed it down quickly.

Laura was quiet for a few moments, she rested both hands against the hood of the Camaro and took a deep breath.

“It’s late, there’s no sense in trying to figure out all this right now.”

Derek nodded, “Yeah, I guess.”

Derek rounded the front of the car and unlocked the door. Laura climbed into the passenger seat as Derek cranked the engine. They were back on the main road of town before Laura spoke again.

“I can’t believe we went through all of this and didn’t even find what we were after.”

“There was nothing around the school that would give the witch away,” Derek said, “I didn’t sense any magic either.”

Laura cradled her head in her hands, “We’re assuming the witch needs to be near control the Rougarou.”

Derek considered it for a moment, “Did Deaton ever say anything about her needing to be around?”

“I don’t think so.” Laura shook her head, “I guess we can try talking to him tomorrow.”

Derek snorted, “A lot of good that will do.”

Laura shrugged, “Maybe I’ll bring Stiles, he seems to like him.”

“What do you mean?” Derek asked.

“With as much attention as you pay to Stiles I’m surprised you didn’t notice.” Laura grinned.

“Laura.” Derek warned.

Laura held her hands up in surrender, “I’m just saying, the only person I’ve ever seen watch Stiles more than you is Deaton.”

Derek’s hands tightened on the wheel, “I didn’t notice.”

“He’s probably just fascinated to find another human that hangs around with werewolves.” Laura said, “In any case, it couldn’t hurt to give him a visit tomorrow. Maybe he can tell us more about Lydia too.”

“You really think that’s a good idea?” Derek asked, “We can barely keep track of Stiles and Scott as it is, you really want to add another teenager to this whole thing? Weren’t you the one that said making an army of teenagers was the worst idea on the planet a few weeks ago?”

“Find me a competent adult in this town then,” Laura said, “because everywhere I look they’re fucking things up or causing unnecessary problems. It’s not my fault that the only people who can get anything done happen to be a pack of teenagers. Unless you want me to go bite Sheriff Stilinski.”

Derek shuddered, “The Sheriff is already terrifying as is.”

Laura laughed as Derek pulled into the parking lot of their building, “If Stiles is to be believed then this Lydia is like…a girl genius. It wouldn’t be the worst to have someone on our side like that, especially someone who can apparently tell when the Rougarou is going to attack.”

“Can we table this discussion for a time when I’m not sleep deprived?” Derek asked.

He could see Laura’s reasoning, and he had to admit that the only people to help them in Beacon Hills so far had been a group of insane teenagers, but it was far too late/early for Derek to have a legitimate conversation about this. The adrenaline from earlier was wearing off and Derek felt dull and sleepy.

“Sure thing, pup.” Laura reached over and ruffled his hair.

Derek pulled his head away and growled at her, but he couldn’t fight off the smile on his face.

“I’m glad you’re in a better mood.” Laura said, “Dare I ask what had you in such a tizzy earlier.”

Derek put the Camaro in park and turned to face Laura with a blank look, “Tizzy? Really?”

Laura shrugged, “I notice things.”

Derek sighed and shook his head, “It’s nothing. It was stupid.”

Laura was silent but the questions in her eyes didn’t need t be asked out loud.

“Erica Reyes, the girl Stiles talked about, was there when I went to check on them this morning. She saw me, freaked out, Stiles lied about who I was, she was going to call the police. It was a whole thing.”

“And you were…upset Stiles lied about who you were?” Laura cocked her head to the side.

Derek shook his head, “Not really. Erica knew who I was anyway, she thought I was there to kill everyone.”

“And obviously that is not the first impression you want people to have of you?”

Derek nodded, “Kinda hard when you’ve been brought in on suspicion of murder.”

“You’ll just have to start winning people over with your sparkling personality.” Laura smiled.

Derek only glared at her.

“Yeah,” Laura tipped her head upwards and grinned, “you’re totally fucked.”

Derek rolled his eyes and shoved her gently before he got out of the car. The night air was cool and still, no breeze blew, and it gave the darkened parking lot a sense of earie calm. Laura hopped out of the car and slide across the hood, so she was standing next to Derek. She looped her arm around his shoulder and pulled him close to her side.

“Well, at least you’ll always have-”

Laura’s words halted abruptly, and she ducked to the ground, pulling Derek down with her, just as a shot rang out through the night. Another one followed, passing through the window of the Camaro and shattering the glass. Derek shook his head to dislodge the pieces of glass and pressed himself down flat next to Laura.

“Come out, come out wherever you are.” A vicious voice sang.

Derek’s eyes went wide, and he could already feel his claws starting to grow.

Kate.

Derek and Laura were pressed between two cars, the Camaro and a small hybrid that Derek didn’t know the owner of. He rolled on his back and reached up, grabbing the side mirror of the hybrid and ripping it off. He passed the mirror to Laura who stuck it around the front of the Camaro and angled it, trying to catch any glimpse of Kate.

“There.” Derek whispered, grabbing Laura’s arm to stop her from moving.

Kate was on the other side of the lot. She had a high-powered rifle balanced on her knee, reloading it with bullets that glowed a dull blue under the moonlight. Wolfsbane.

Kate’s hair was disheveled, her white shirt was torn and stained with what looked like dirt and blood, and she had small cuts on her forehead.

“Something attacked her.” Laura whispered, “That’s why she wasn’t with Chris and Victoria.”

Derek was frozen, he couldn’t speak or do much more than process what he was seeing in real time.

Kate pulled the rifle from her knee, hefting it upwards and holding it at the ready.

“There’s nowhere else for you to go.” Kate called out, “Why don’t you both come out and end this?”

“Stay here.” Laura said as she pulled off her leather jacket and tossed it to the side.

Derek watched as she closed her eyes and let herself shift fully. Her clothes were torn away, and she laid on her side until it was complete. A few moments later Laura stood, a full wolf with glowing red eyes, and swiftly crawled under the hybrid and out to the other side.

Derek kept track of Laura’ feet as she moved around the other cars. She was trying to circle around to Kate’s flank to get the drop on her, maybe hoping to surprise her with a full shift.

“Derek, don’t hide.” Kate whined, “You know how much I like to play with my food.”

Derek felt the bile building up in his throat again. He shook his head and let himself shift into his Beta form as a distraction. He got to his knees and crouched along the side of the Camaro, ready to help Laura if he needed to.

Kate sighed, “Fine, I guess if you won’t come play with me I’ll go pat a visit to your new little boy toy. He’s a feisty one, he could really give me a run for my money. But then again, you know how much I love a fighter.”

Derek’s claws dugs into the asphalt, shattering it as his grip tightened.

“I’d say it surprised me that you were into dick, but it really doesn’t. So many things make sense now. He’s a little young for you though, don’t you think? I wouldn’t have guessed you of all people were into the whole jailbait twink thing.”

Despite his attempts to keep quiet, Derek roared. It echoed across the parking lot like a bell.

“Bingo.” Kate whispered, firing a few shots off in Derek’s direction.

Laura’s howl overshadowed the gun shots though, and she snarled before attacking. Derek stuck his head around the side of a car to watch as Laura leapt at Kate, throwing her head into Kate’s stomach and knocking the rifle out of her hands.

Kate fell to the ground and rolled, hitting the tire of a large truck, and she pushed herself up and brushed her hair out of her face.

“That’s a surprise.” Kate said as her eyes fell onto Laura, “The wolf bitch actually did it.”

Kate pulled a knife out of her boot at the same time as Laura pounced as her. Kate hit Laura in the side, dragging the blade though her fur. Laura yelped but kept up her attack, swiping at Kate and pushing her up against another car.

Kate kicked Laura, but Laura just barely dodged it by rolling onto her side and disappearing around another car.

Laura tried to surprise her again, but Kate was good. She turned just as Laura launched herself from the top of a nearby truck. Kate drove the knife into Laura’s back leg, throwing her into a motorcycle in the process.

Kate scrambled for her rifle while Laura lay dazed on the ground. Derek ran as soon as Kate had the gun back in her hands, he couldn’t make it to Kate in time but he could protect Laura. Kate fired the gun at the same moment that Derek jumped in front of Laura.

Derek screamed as the bullet tore through him, hitting him in the bicep. Derek felt the bullet shred bone and muscle as it hit him. He didn’t feel the exit wound, which mean that the bullet had stopped inside his arm and was filling him with the wolfsbane.

The effect was almost instantaneous. Derek’s arm was on fire, he fell to the ground and clutched at the wound in a futile effort to stop the bleeding. Derek could feel the poison working its way though his body.

“Not the Hale I wanted, but I’ll take it I guess.” Kate laughed, her gun held at the ready.

Derek struggled to speak as he looked behind himself and found Laura gone.

“I have to say, I never thought it would end this way between us.” Kate shrugged and pointed the rifle between Derek’s eyes, “Oh well. Thanks for the memories.”

Before Kate could pull the trigger, Laura jumped though the air and ripped the rifle from her hands. The rifle slid across the ground and Derek was vaguely aware of the sound of approaching sirens. He could already see the flashing red and blue lights.

Derek’s eyes fluttered closed for a second and when he opened them again he found himself in the woods, his wrist in Laura’s mouth as she pulled his limp body away from scene. They weren’t far from the parking lot, Derek could still make out the flashing lights between the trees and there seemed to be a fleet of squad cars assembled.

“The gun?” Derek asked, hissing through the pain.

The gun had the bullets Kate was using inside of it, it was their only hope at the moment.

Laura dropped Derek’s wrist and whined, her head held low.

A no then.

“It’s ok, we’ll figure something out.” Derek whispered, “We can’t go back to the apartment.”

Laura shook her head.

Derek felt his consciousness drifting gain, the trees above him blurred and focused rabidly and the sound of the sirens was getting further and further away.

Everything slowly went black.

 

XXX

 

Stiles was halfway through a dream that involved himself, Derek, a rowboat, and Sebastian the crab from The Little Mermaid when a tapping at his bedroom window woke him up. Stiles groaned and pulled the pillow over his head, he was looking forward to getting a good nights sleep tonight after the mess that was this morning but there was always a surely werewolf outside his window to shit all over his plans.

“Come back in the morning,” Stiles groaned, “I’m so tired.”

The tapping continued, and the something barked.

Stiles shot up out of the bed faster than he’d ever moved in his entire life. He was on the other side of the room and reaching for his baseball bat when he looked outside his window and saw an imposing figure.

A large dog sat outside his window, hidden under the shadow of night, with burning red eyes.

“Laura?” Stiles asked, “Am I dreaming?”

Laura barked once before standing and jumping down from the roof. Stiles really hoped no one happened to be looking outside, he couldn’t think up any lie to explain why there was a dog the size of a small horse sitting outside his bedroom window.

Laura barked again, and Stiles looked out the window, he could see her sitting on his back porch and pawing at the door.

“This is so going to wake dad up,” Stiles mumbled to himself as he sat the baseball bat on the edge of his bed and walked out into the hallway.

He moved quietly down the stairs and made his way into the kitchen. He could hear Laura pawing at the door and he moved as fast as he could to open it so she wouldn’t permanently scratch it. Stiles would have no good explanation for that either.

When Stiles opened the door, Derek’s body tumbled onto the floor.

“Holy mother of fucking shit!” Stiles yelped, jumping backwards as Derek’s pale body fell at his feet and began to bleed all over the tile.

Laura barked again, running around Stiles and down the hallway.

“Laura!” Stiles hissed, “What happened? Stop barking, you’re going to wake my dad up!”

“Kate.” Laura said from behind Stiles, “And your dad isn’t here. I assume he’s gone out to investigate the reports of gunfire near our apartment.”

Stiles turned around and there was Laura, standing naked in his kitchen.

“Why isn’t Derek healing?” Stiles asked, ignoring Laura’s lack of clothing and turning back to Derek, “Why is there so much blood?”

Stiles dropped to his knees and grabbed a roll of paper towels and pressed them over the wound on Derek’s arm. He pulled back Derek’s sleeve and gasped when he saw the wound ringed with black spidery veins.

“Kate shot him with a wolfsbane bullet.” Laura said, “She attacked us outside of our apartment.”

“Fuck.” Stiles hissed, Derek’s face was growing paler by the moment. “How do we fix this?”

“I need the gun that Kate had, if I can get one of the bullets then we can use it to cure him.”

“Where’s the gun?” Stiles asked.

“Kate ran off without it so I’m going to assume your father has found it by now and it’s going to be catalogued as evidence, I need to get it before that happens.”

“Can Deaton help?” Stiles asked, “That has to be the easier option, right? Deaton knows all about this stuff.”

Laura shook her head, “Deaton isn’t answering his phone, and even if he was we don’t know what kind of wolfsbane Kate used in her bullets, so we’d only just make it worse by guessing. Besides, Derek wanted me to take him here.”

“Here?” Stiles looked up and locked eyes with Laura, “Why?”

Laura swallowed and took a deep breath, she was clearly trying to keep it together for the sake of everyone, “He feels safe here.”

Stiles lost his breath, but quickly recovered, he didn’t have time to analyze that.

“What do I need to do?”

“Get a belt and make a tourniquet on his arm, tie it off just above the entry wound and it should help stop the spread of the wolfsbane. They to keep him lucid and talking, it will be easier to help him if he’s awake when I get back.”

Stiles nodded, “How are you planning on getting the gun?”

“I have a plan. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Laura said before she shifted back to her Alpha form and took off running out back towards the woods.

Derek groaned, “Stiles?”

Stiles took a deep breath and tried to smile, “Hey big guy, can you stand?”

Derek tried to push himself up but was only able to get hallway up before he started to sway. Stiles rushed over and slid his arm around Derek’s back and let Derek rest his good arm on his shoulder.

Derek’s skin was on fire.

“Let’s get you upstairs, it’ll be more comfortable than the tile floor.”

Derek nodded, “Thank you.”

Stiles bit back the waves of panic he was feeling and smiled when he locked eyes with Derek, “Thank me later. Everything is going to be fine.”

At least, Stiles hoped it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise Magic Bullet!


	21. Meets an Immovable Object

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty-One

Meets an Immovable Object

 

Stiles was sure this was the most blood he’d ever seen in his entire life. Sure, there was that time last year when Greenberg fell and broke his arm with a compound fracture and Stiles just happened to walk by in time to get a righteous view of his Ulna piercing his skin, but that was just gross and there really wasn’t that much blood involved.

Derek, on the other hand, was oozing blood. It started out red, then a deep purple color, until it finally began to ooze out like thick black oil.

“Derek?” Stiles asked, “Should your blood be black?”

Derek lifted his head up slowly and looked at his arm before grimacing, “It’s the poison mixing with my blood.”

Stiles swallowed, “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Both,” Derek said, his words coming out in a rasp, “It means my body is still fighting the wolfsbane, but it also means its starting to spread slowly.”

Stiles rested his hand on the center of Derek’s bare chest and looked at him in the eye, “What do we do if it keeps spreading and Laura isn’t back in time?”

Derek held Stiles’ stare, “Does your dad have a table saw?”

Stiles was thrown by the question, “Yeah…there’s on in the…”

Derek’s true question finally registered, and Stiles bit back a surge of vomit, “No! Fuck you, no!”

“Stiles.” Derek gritted his teeth.

“No!” Stiles said again, his voice raising, “Fuck you for even thinking you could get me to _cut off your arm_. I can’t even play Operation without setting off the buzzer, let alone cut off an entire arm with a table saw!”

Derek took a deep breath, “If Laura isn’t back in time then it’s either my arm or my life.”

Stiles understood, he really did. Amputations to save someone lives were common, he read all about them one night when he couldn’t sleep. But Stiles was still in high school, and sure he was a high school student who now ran around with wolves and other supernatural creatures but that didn’t mean he was ready to cut someone’s arm off.

To cut _Derek’_ s arm off.

“I’m already having nightmares about psychotic Biology teachers and evil wolf monsters,” Stiles said, unable to stop himself, “I can’t add nightmares about cutting off your arm into the mix to.”

Fuck.

Stiles really would have preferred if Derek didn’t know about any of that.

“Stiles...”

Stiles shook his head and tried what he thought was a reassuring smile, which probably looked more manic than anything, “Besides, there’s no way I could clean up all that blood before my dad got home.”

Derek looked up at him without saying anything, his eyes were flashing back and forth between their normal dull green color and electric blue. Stiles’ hand was still resting on Derek’s chest, and he tightened it into a fist, trying to fight off whatever terrible images were coming to his mind. Stiles felt his nails scrape against Derek’s skin, Derek slowly raised his good arm and Stiles blinked in surprise when he felt Derek’s hand fall on top of his fist.

Derek splayed his fingers out across the top of Stiles’ fist, slowly working it open until Stiles’ hand was laying flat on Derek’s chest again. Stiles sucked in a deep breath of air as he turned his hand over, his palm facing upwards with Derek’s resting on top. Derek’s fingers danced against the thin skin of Stiles’ palm, his claws slightly extended and sending shivers up Stiles’ arm and through his entire body as he felt the slight drag of Derek’s claws on him.

Derek slotted his fingers between Stiles’ and closed both of their hands together, squeezing slightly as he spoke without looking at Stiles, “I won’t make you do it.”

Stiles felt the familiar pin pricks of tears forming behind his eyes. He was such a piece of shit, Derek was literally dying in front of him and all Stiles was worried about was the ramifications of it on his own mental health. Stiles shook his head, he couldn’t be selfish, and he couldn’t let Derek die. He’d deal with whatever consequences came afterwards like he always did, at least Derek would still be alive.

Stiles didn’t say anything, he just tightened his grip on Derek’s hand.

Stiles would do it if he had to, but he really fucking hoped Laura would be back before it came to that.

 

X

Laura quickly scaled the fire escape of their apartment building and slipped into one of the smaller windows on the bottom floor of her and Derek’s apartment. She didn’t have time to do much else aside from strip of the clothes she’d borrowed from Stiles, leaving them in a pile near Derek’s door, and make her way upstairs to her own bedroom.

She pulled out her most unassuming pair of pajamas and dressed in them before letting herself out into the hallway and heading towards the door that led to the roof access stairs of the building.

The flashing lights from the police cruisers reached the top of the building, casting the already uncomfortable shadows into strange colored versions of themselves. She spotted the figure crouched at the edge of the roof and raised her voice only slightly.

“Did you bring what I asked?"

Scott turned, he was dressed in an old shirt that had more exposed holes than fabric, and a loose pair of sweats. He yawned as he spotted Laura, but then lifted a plastic grocery bag that was in his hand.

“Yeah,” Scott said, a little confused, “what happened down there?”

Laura hadn’t given Scott any details when she called him after leaving Derek with Stiles. She’d spent an anxious minute waiting for the line to connect, unsure of what she would have done had Scott not answered. When he did pick up, obviously stirred out of a deep sleep, Laura had said nothing to him but that she needed his help and he needed to meet her on the roof of the apartment building in ten minutes.

That was nine minutes ago.

“Kate.” Laura said, “She attacked Derek and I when we got home, she shot Derek with a wolfsbane bullet.”

Scott gasped, “Holy shit.”

Laura huffed out a laugh, “Yeah, holy shit.”

“Where’s Derek?” Scott asked.

“I left him with Stiles, he’s watching him to make sure it doesn’t get worse before we can do anything to help him.”

Scott looked doubtful, “Are you sure? Stiles isn’t the most…nurturing person.”

“He’ll take care of Derek.” Laura smiled softly, “Anyway, we need to get the gun Kate was using.”

“Where is it?” Scott asked.

Laura flicked her head to the side, towards the edge of the roof, “Currently being logged as a piece of evidence.”

“Shit,” Scott said, “Why do we need the gun?”

“We need the exact strain of wolfsbane Kate used to make her bullets to save Derek, there’s too many kinds to try at random and we’d just make him worse. The only way to counteract wolfsbane poising is to burn the poison out with the same strain.”

“How are we going to get the gun?” Scott shook his head, “If Kate was the one who did it wouldn’t it be easier to just go after her to get the bullets? Maybe they’re at Allison’s hose, I could go over there and try to find them instead of trying to steal them from the police.”

Laura shook her head, slightly in shock, “In what world does that sound safer or easier than taking the gun from an active crime scene?”

Scott grimaced and shrugged, “The TV world?”

Laura sighed and raked a hand through her hair, “I already have a plan, it requires two people so that’s why I called you. I don’t want to ask you to break the law for me, but there’s no other way to do this and I don’t trust anyone but you.”

Laura bit back a smile as she noticed Scott preening a bit at the compliment. She’d have to work on that, letting Scott know he was appreciated. Laura knew she focused on Derek out of habit and necessity, but Derek wasn’t her only Beta anymore and she’d have to keep that in mind going forward.

She wished her mom was still around to teach her how to spread the love among a pack.

“Stiles is my best friend, breaking the law is nothing new.” Scott laughed, “Tell me the plan.”

 

X

 

Laura pulled her hair up into a pony tail before she pushed the doors to the apartments lobby open and stepped out onto the sidewalk. She caught a flash of gold from the tree line, Scott’s eyes, and nodded before heading towards the parking lot. She rubbed her eyes a few more times before running into anyone, trying to make herself look as sleep rumpled as possible.

Laura’s eyes scanned the parking lot, she was looking for any sign of the CSU team, assuming Beacon Hills had a proper Crime Scene Unit. If they’d already found Kate’s gun, then the CSU van would be the most likely place for the gun to be kept before it could be taken in and processed for evidence. There were no signs of any trucks having left the parking lot, so Laura figured the gun was still around somewhere.

“Miss Hale?” A familiar voice called out from behind Laura.

Laura turned, and with a yawn, “Sheriff Stilinski?”

The Sheriff looked grim, his pulse was racing a little too quickly and he had deep bags under his eyes. Stiles had said the Sheriff had been at home, so he must have been woken up and called out to the crime scene in the middle of the night.

“This saves me the trouble of having to come find you then.” The Sheriff said.

Laura cocked her head to the side, “What?”

The Sheriff sighed, “Your name is listed on the mailboxes inside. I actually wasn’t surprised, at this point it doesn’t seem like there’s a crime that goes on in this town without one Hale or another being around, even if you did tell me you and your brother were leaving town as soon as possible.”   

The Sheriff was already on offence. Good. It would make Laura’s job easier.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Laura said, feigning ignorance, “what crime? What happened here?”

The Sheriff raised a single eyebrow, “Are you seriously asking me that?”

Laura sighed, “Sheriff, I’ve been asleep for the last few hours. I woke up to go to the bathroom and I saw the lights through the window and came down to see what was going on.”

The Sheriff started to laugh, “You expect me to believe that you slept thought what looks to be a shoot out right outside your apartment?”

Laura took a step backwards, “What?”

“We have several bullet casings, multiple bullets recovered from cars, and the gun itself,” The Sheriff scrubbed a hand over his face, “you’re really going to tell me you slept through all of that?”

Laura yawned again, “I’ve lived in a crappy apartment in New York with my brother for the last few years, you get used to sleeping through a lot of stuff there.”

The Sheriff’s heartbeat settled a little bit, he was starting to buy Laura’s story. She knew he would fall for the New York excuse, it always worked.

The Sheriff changed the subject, “Since you’re here, would you mind explaining something to me?”

“Sure.” Laura nodded.

The Sheriff spoke into the radio on his shoulder, “Deputy Parrish, could you bring what we just bagged from the truck?”

Score.

Laura remembered Deputy Parrish from the impound lot. She turned her head to the side and listened for his voice in the crowd of people, catching onto it just as he replied to the Sheriff. He was across the parking lot and Laura could just barely see him from where she was standing.

“Sure, Sheriff.” Parrish replied.

Laura subtly tracked Parrish as he moved across the parking lot. He weaved through the crowd of deputies and came to a stop at a black van, opening the doors and reaching inside to retrieve an evidence bag. Parrish closed the door and then jogged over to Laura and the Sheriff, handing him a plastic bag that was full of Laura’s clothes. The clothes she’d stripped off earlier before fully shifting to fight Kate.

Well, damn. Time to think fast.  

“Can you tell me what these are, Laura?” The Sheriff asked.

“My clothes?” Laura asked, confused, “Where did you get those? I’ve been looking for them all night.”  

“You’ve what?” Parrish asked, surprised.

The Sheriff stuck his hand out and pressed it against the center of Parrish’s chest. Parrish took a step backwards.

 “I did laundry at the coin laundry in town earlier today,” which wasn’t a lie, Laura had accidentally shattered the glass of the brand new front loading washing because she slammed it too hard when she closed it, “I was looking for those when I was putting them away. I thought I’d left them there.”

“They were out here on the ground near your car.” The Sheriff said.

Laura huffed, “I must have dropped them when I got the basket out of the car.”

The Sheriff frowned, “We’ll still need to keep these, they’re part of a crime scene now.”

“Will I get them back?” Laura asked, because that seemed like the stupid question someone who was totally innocent would ask.

The Sheriff didn’t answer, just handed the bag back to Parrish, “Go put this back in the truck with the rest of the evidence, tell the techs to be ready to roll out since we’re almost done here.”

Bingo.

Laura turned her head to the side and whispered, low enough so that neither the Sheriff or Parrish would her, but Scott would.

“Now.”

Laura held her breath. She had no idea if the plan would work, but it was either this or muscling her way through a team of Beacon Hills’ finest to get what she needed, and she’d go for subterfuge over brute strength any day.

A few more seconds, and then a long bang echoed across the parking lot, coming from the woods to their riht.

“Oh my god!” Laura gasped.

The Sheriff jumped forward, shielding Laura with his body and pulling her to the ground.

“Everyone down!” The Sheriff screamed, pulling Laura behind a car and motioning Parrish to follow.

Another bang from the right, and then a few moments later two more from the left.

“Multiple shooters!” The Sheriff spoke into his radio, “Everyone stay down and be ready to mobilize!”

A few more bangs from the woods behind them, and then silence.

The Sheriff waited for a few minutes, and then he must have thought the coast was clear, he spoke.

“I want three teams, fan out and search the woods and see if you can find anything. Parrish, you take Laura and the CSU techs inside and stay with them.”

Laura watched as the Sheriff put together three teams and headed in the directions that the "shots" came from. She went along with Parrish and the CSU team to wait inside the lobby of the apartment, hanging back while they moved ahead of her.

“Black van at left corner of the parking lot.” Laura whispered towards Scott’s position.

Now it was up to Scott.

 

X

 

Scott did what Laura told him to. It was an awesome plan, to be honest. Stiles would have gotten a kick out of it, but they’d both decided it was probably better if Stiles never learned the specifics of this plan because there was a small, almost miniscule, chance it could give his dad a heart attack.

“Now.” Laura said, her voice a low whisper that Scott could just barely hear.

Scott slipped on the gloves that Laura told him to bring, a pair of pink cotton gardening gloves he’d found outside that barely fit his hands. Oh well, it wasn’t about comfort so much as it was about not leaving fingerprints.

Scott ran to the south, letting the wolf inside him free as he moved faster than he even thought he could move. When he reached the perfect spot, he pulled the package of Cherry Bombs out of his pocket and undid them. They were left over from last year’s ill-advised New Year’s celebration and Scott hoped they still worked.

Scott sat two on the ground, a few feet away from each other, and then pulled out the lighter he’d grabbed from the outside grill.

“Sorry, Sheriff.” Scott said, lighting the wick of the first cherry bomb.

A moment later, it exploded. Scott waited another few seconds and then lit the second. He ran off before that one exploded, it was a distant echo by the time he got to the second spot Laura had told him to get to. Scott couldn’t believe how fast he was moving, or the rush of excitement he was getting from the whole thing.

He found a good area for the next few cherry bombs, set them off, and then ran to the final spot. He repeated the same process and then ran back to the apartment building. Coming up from the rear so he wouldn’t be seen, he scaled the fire escape until he was back on the top of the room and looking down at the scene below him.

Scott felt a pang of guild, he’d made almost the entire police force, Stiles’ dad included, think they were being shot at. Scott couldn’t help but wonder what they were thinking, assuming it was their final moments. Scott shook his head, he couldn’t let that bother him right now.

The police broke into a few teams as the Sheriff gave his orders, and soon they were moving out towards the woods while Laura was being escorted inside along with a few other people.

“Black van in the left corner of the parking lot." Laura whispered before going inside with everyone else.

Scott looked over the lot, spotting the van almost instantly. He’d seen it sitting outside a few crime scene’s over the years.

When the coast was clear, and all the police were a safe distance away in the woods, Scott pulled on the mask Laura had told him to bring. The only mask Scott had sitting around his house was from a Halloween costume a few years ago, a wolf man mask.

Scott laughed to himself, it was a bit on the nose, but it was pretty perfect. Scott pulled the rubber mask over his head and climbed down the building, keeping himself low as he moved through the rows of cars towards the black van. His gloves were still on so he didn’t waste any time when he got to the van, quickly opening the door and spotting Kate’s gun right away.

The gun was bigger than any Scott had ever seen, obviously not something anyone could just pick up at an outdoors store. It wasn’t bagged or anything, so it was easy for Scott to slide the clip out, after dropping it a few times, and pull out three bullets.

Scott thought they were going to take the entire gun at first, but Laura said it would be easier for them to just get a few bullets from it and they wouldn’t arouse any suspicion like they would if the entire gun went missing. With any luck, no one would even notice that the gun was missing a few bullets from the clip.

Scott grabbed an unused evidence bag from a box and dropped the bullets inside, he didn’t want to risk any of the wolfsbane inside of them getting on him and slowing him down before he could get to Derek and Stiles.

“I’ve got them.” Scott said, hoping Laura could hear him.

“Good.” Laura said, a moment later, “Go. Hurry.”

“Right.” Scott nodded to himself. He closed the door to the van just as the sound of voices came from the woods.

“Fireworks? Really?” The Sheriff sounded pissed.

Scott turned and ran, hoping he would make it to Stiles’ house before it was too late.

 

X

 

Derek was getting worse.

Stiles tried to stay calm, wipe away the blood, and reassure Derek that he was going to be OK. But Derek was pale, like, scary pale. And the veins around his wound were black and they’d grown darker and darker since Derek arrived. The dark veins had been slowly creeping up Derek’s arm for the last hour and were almost to his shoulder now.

Derek had been drifting in and out of consciousness, his eyes fluttering closed until Stiles shook him awake again.

“If they start to go past my shoulder then my arm has to…”

Stiles shook his head, “It won’t come to that.”

Derek growled, “Stiles.”

Stiles growled back at him, “Derek.”

Derek was silent for a moment, and then he burst out into a fit of weak laughter, “Did you just growl at me?”

“What? Like you’re the only one who’s allowed to have a monopoly on growling?” Stiles rolled his eyes, “Stop being speciest.”

“That’s not a word.” Derek laughed again.

Stiles growled again.

Derek smiled softly, “You’re cute when you growl.”

Stiles felt his face growing hotter and he looked away from Derek as the blush started to rise on his cheeks. Derek had been saying stuff like that all night and Stiles didn’t know how to react to it. Derek was obviously delusional, and he couldn’t be held accountable for this he said while his insides were being liquified by werewolf poison.

There was no way Derek meant any of what he was saying.

“Do you want some water? You look like you could use some water. I’ll be right back, please don’t die while I go get you some water.”

Stiles stood up, took one last look at Derek, and then made his way to the kitchen to get Derek a bottle of water. When Stiles got back to the room, Derek’s eyes were closed, and he wasn’t moving.

“Shit!” Stiles dropped the bottle of water and rushed to Derek, “Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead.”

Stiles pressed his ear to Derek’s chest and sighed in relief when he could still hear his heartbeat. It was faint, but it was there. The black veins still hadn’t reached Derek’s shoulder yet, so Stiles didn’t need to fire up the table saw either.

Stiles let his hand rest on Derek’s chest as he leaned forward, “Derek. Derek, you have to stay awake.”

Derek didn’t open his eyes.

Stiles sighed and placed both hands on Derek’s shoulder, shaking him a little bit. When that didn’t work, Stiles put his hand to Derek’s cheek and tapped it lightly. He ignored the way Derek’s scruff felt on his hand as he moved it back and forth.

“Derek,” Stiles tapped a little harder, “C’mon buddy, you’ve got to wake up.”

Derek woke up with a gasp, his eyes electric blue and panicked.

“Kate?” Derek’s voice was raspy, he sounded terrified.

“Derek, it’s me. It’s Stiles.” Stiles said, moving his hand to rest on Derek’s chest again, “You’re OK, you’re at my house.”

Derek looked at Stiles, but Stiles could tell from his eyes that Derek wasn’t seeing _him_.

“Kate,” Derek’s voice sounded so small, so terrified, his eyes fell on Stiles’ hand on his chest and he whined, “Kate, I don’t want to. Not tonight.”

Stiles swallowed. He was frozen.

“Please,” Derek said, shaking his head, “Kate, I said no!”

Stiles jerked his hand away like he’d been burned.

Derek turned to his side and curled himself into a ball. Stiles’ entire mouth was dry and felt like sandpaper. He had the deepest pit in his stomach, but he felt sick at the same time. There’s no way that Stiles could be right in what he was thinking, right? Derek was in pain, delirious, he didn’t know what he was saying.

Kate didn’t.

Kate _couldn’t_.

Except Kate could, Stiles knew that all too well.

Three taps came from Stiles window, shaking Stiles from his thoughts as he let out a surprised yelp and looked over to find two golden eyes looking at him from the other side of the glass.

“Scott?” Stiles rushed to the window and opened it, “Where’s Laura?”

Scott climbed inside, “She’s fine. She told me to come, I have what Derek needs.”

Scott was a part of Laura’s plan? Stiles was dying to know what happened, but he pushed those thoughts aside when Scott pulled out an evidence bag with three long bullets inside of it.

“Scott?” Derek asked.

Stiles looked over his shoulder and found Derek leaning against his bed. He looked like he was back to normal, or as normal as he could be right now. There wasn’t a single trace of the scared, panicked Derek that Stiles had seen a moment earlier.

Derek looked at Stiles and smiled and Stiles felt his stomach lurch. Derek had no idea what he’d just said, did he?

Scott showed Derek the bag, “What do we do?”

Derek hissed in pain as he laid back on the floor, “Stiles, you have to open up the shell and pour the powder into my wound.”

“Seriously?” Stiles took a step backwards.

Derek nodded, “It’s too dangerous for Scott to handle the wolfsbane himself.”

Stiles looked around his room, scrambling to find a pair of pliers. He had some in his desk drawer for some reason. He pulled off the cap of the bullet and looked down at the fine, sandy powder inside that shimmered blue and purple under the right light.

“Once you pour it inside, you have to light it on fire. It’ll burn the poison out quickly, but it’s going to hurt. Scott, I need you to hold me down and make sure I don’t do anything to hurt Stiles.”

Scott's eyes drifted between Derek and Stiles with a surprised look but didn’t say anything before nodding and kneeling next to Derek. Scott tossed Stiles a lighter and then braced himself, his arms on Derek’s shoulders. Stiles took a deep breath and sat next to Scott.

“Here we go.”

Stiles turned the bullet upside down and watched the power fall inside Derek’s arm. It reminded him of an hourglass in a twisted way. He reached over and grabbed one of his leather belts, folding it in half and handing it to Derek.

“Here.” Stiles said, “Bite down on it so you down roar and wake up the entire neighborhood.”

“Thanks.” Derek put the belt between his teeth and clamped down on it just as Stiles lit the lighter.

Stiles figured it was best not to let Derek anticipate the pain. He winced as he lowered the flame towards Derek’s wound, and scrambled backwards and the flame caught and erupted into a sizeable fire with a blue flame.

Scott was shifted, his eyebrows gone and his eyes gold, and he struggled to hold down a thrashing Derek. Derek’s body convulsed, his legs kicked and flailed, but Scott managed to keep him down until the tremors subsided.

When Derek was still, Stiles crawled back across the room to look at Derek’s arm. Stiles gasped in surprise when he saw that the black veins were gone, the wound wasn’t swollen anymore, and Derek’s skin was already starting to stitch itself closed.

“Derek?” Stiles asked softly, “Are you OK?”

Derek’s was silent for a moment until he opened his eyes and spit out Stiles’ belt, which was now bitten in half.

“That belt taste like shit.”

Stiles smiled, and then fell to the floor in a heap of laughter.

 


	22. It’s Been One Week Since You Looked at Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise new chapter thats accidentally 6k long! this was literally supposed to a short chapter to bridge everything until the next chapter and then i couldn't stop myself so it turned into this lol

 

 

 

 

Chapter 22

It’s Been One Week Since You Looked at Me

 

 

The next week passes slowly.

 

Saturday

Stiles spent the early hours of Saturday making sure Derek didn’t die, then cleaning up all the blood from around his house before his dad got home in the early morning looking very tired and very angry. Stiles avoided his dad, too nervous about being called out on a lie to think straight. It was fine, his dad slept most of the day anyway, and then he spent all dinner talking about assholes with fireworks. Whatever that meant.

Derek came to see Stiles before he went to bed, scaling the house and tapping on Stiles’ window. Their conversation was stilted and awkward. Stiles wondered if Derek remembered anything he’d said while he was poisoned. Wondered if Derek remembered holding his hand and calling Stiles cute. Wondered if Derek remembered accidentally telling Stiles that Kate had…Stiles didn’t know the exact word to put to what Derek had said. Or, rather, Stiles did. He was just scared to.

Derek sat on the edge of Stiles’ bed and poked him in the leg when Stiles stared off into space for too long.

“I’m glad I didn’t have to cut off your arm.” Stiles said.

“I’m glad I didn’t die.” Derek said. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Derek left through the window.

 

Sunday

 

Stiles slept the entire day.

 

Monday

 

Lydia still won’t talk to Stiles.

Stiles didn't blame her, really. She’d told him something in confidence, something that could wreck the image of perfection she so carefully displays to everyone around her, and Stiles went and fucked it up by telling Scott.

But Stiles couldn’t tell Lydia why he told Scott, he couldn’t tell her that he’d only told Scott because he’d told Laura Hale. And he couldn’t tell Lydia that he’d told Laura Hale because Laura Hale is the Alpha to the pack of werewolves that Stiles had suddenly found himself in, and that Lydia’s weird psychic feelings are predicting deaths caused by another evil werewolf monster thing.

Well, Stiles _could_ potentially tell her, but that discussion had been tabled on account of Derek getting shot and almost dying. Stiles would have to bring the Lydia thing up again.

Stiles spent his lunch in the library again, though he ignored the computers this time. Instead, he spent the 45 minutes looking at a stack of old yearbooks. He’d done the calculations and figured out which years Derek would have been in school and pulled all four yearbooks.

He looked at the stack and warred with himself on what to do. Part of Stiles wanted to see the person that Derek was before the fire, before his world was twisted up and destroyed. The other part of Stiles, the more human part, didn’t feel like he had any right to try and know that Derek. That part of Stiles felt dirty.

Stiles also did the calculations and found out when Kate was a substitute teacher for the first time.

Stiles looked at the yearbooks.

The times lined up.

Stiles’ hand hovered over the stack, but he pushed them away and replaced them on the shelf just before the bell rang.

In Econ, Finstock wasn’t surprised that no one did their project over the weekend. Someone died in their parking lot, he couldn’t really be mad so gave them until next Tuesday.

Stiles hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Erica after the whole kitchen incident either, but she leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Should we meet up on Saturday?” Erica asked.

Stiles looked from Erica to Lydia, “What do you say, Lyds?”

Lydia paused, looked directly at Erica while avoiding Stiles, “Saturday sounds fine. The library?”

“Sure?” Erica said, slightly confused.

Allison interjected before things could get too awkward, “We were going to meet at the library on Saturday too! Why don’t we all just hang out together while we work?”

“Great,” Stiles huffed, “my idea of a fun Saturday night is spending it in the library with Jackson.”

“Suck my dick, Stilinski.” Jackson growled.

“Maybe if you ask nicely.”

The bell rang.

 

Tuesday

 

“Are you sure Lydia isn’t magical?” Stiles asked Deaton as he reclined on one of the exam tables before school.

Deaton looked amused, which was weird, but Stiles ignored it.

Laura noticed to, if the way she watched Deaton watch Stiles was any indication.

“I’m fairly confident, Mr. Stilinski.”

“But how do you know for sure?” Stiles challenged.

Deaton folded his hands and sat them in his lap, “Most people are born with magical abilities, same as lycanthropy. They are raised with their magical powers from a young age, taught and trained to control it and master it. Spontaneous magical abilities are extremely rare and often require the perfect line up of events. I am fairly sure Martin’s have not been practicing magic under my nose for the last decade, and I would have been aware of anything that could result in spontaneous magic in the last few months.”

“So, what?” Laura asked, “If she’s not magical, and she’s not a psychic, then what the hell is she?”

“I’d have to look at the Martin family tree to know for sure, but it’s possible that Lydia could be a banshee.”

Stiles laughed, a full body laugh that echoed off the walls around him.

“That’s just rude.”

Deaton didn’t look amused.

“Wait,” Stiles sat up, “you’re serious? You just said the Martin’s weren’t magical!”

“Magical and supernatural are not necessarily exclusive to each other.”

“Yeah, OK, Fanneedoolee.”

Laura tipped her head to the side, “That actually makes sense. I’ve never encountered a banshee, but Peter used to have a whole book on them.”

“I can’t believe we’re saying banshee in a serious context.” Stiles shook his head.

Deaton ignored him, “I also thought it might be possible for Miss Martin to be possessed, but that is also incredibly rare.”

“I’d believe possession over a banshee,” Stiles sighed, “but she’s been acting totally normal aside from the whole visions of death thing.”

Deaton shook his head, “Just because someone is acting normally doesn’t mean they aren’t possessed, it can sometimes take months, even years, for possession to show outward signs.”

“Seriously?” Stiles asked, shocked.

Deaton nodded, “But that would be a conversation for another time, you’re going to be late to school.”

Stiles looked at the clock and jumped off the table, “Shit! Good looking out, Doc!”

Later in the day, Stiles finally came face to face with Kate again.

Kate was dressed impeccably, as usual, her blouse was low cut and Stiles was sure that she violated the school dress code.

It made him sick to his stomach.

Though the rough cut that ran along the side of her forehead helped calm Stiles a bit, he grinned every time she turned her head and put it on display.

Kate hadn’t looked at him once since class started, and Stiles wondered if she had any idea that Derek was still alive. Stiles expected her to gloat, the shove it in his face any chance she got, but Kate was rather subdued. For her standards anyway.

A student finally asked her what happened to her face right before class ended.

“Some asshole tried to break into my car.” Kate said with a grin.

Stiles looked at Allison out of the corner of his eye, trying to track her expression, but she didn’t give anything away with her body language.

“What happened?” The student asked.

Kate laughed, “I kicked his ass.”

The entire classroom began to murmur. Stiles saw Lydia roll her eyes once she made sure Allison wasn’t looking.

Stiles, well, Stiles couldn’t help himself. He raised his hand.

Stiles felt Scott’s entire body go rigid as he realized what was happening.

Kate blinked a few times when she saw his hand, before, “Yes, Mr. Stilinski.”

“Someone tried to break into your car?” Stiles frowned, “That must have been scary.”

Kate shrugged, “I’ve dealt with worse.”

“Did you report it?” Stiles asked, with a quizzical tilt to his head, “I’m sure my dad would love to know that there’s some crazy person running around town trying to hurt people.”

“Stiles!” Scott hissed under his breath.

Kate’s smile grew tighter, “I’m touched by you concern, Stiles.” She drew her hand up to her heart, “But I made sure that it was taken care of, we had a nice chat and I can promise everyone in this room that there’s nothing to be worried about when it comes to that guy.”

The bell rang, and Scott sprung to his feet, wrapping his hand in the crook of Stiles’ elbow and dragging him out of the classroom, “Derek is going to fucking kill you.”

Stiles shrugged, “Worth it.”

 

Wednesday

 

“Again!” Laura said, standing over Stiles with her hands on her hips.

“Seriously?” Stiles groaned, pushing himself up from the ground and brushing the dirt off his palms.

“I’m not even using my speed, Stiles.” Laura shook her head, “If you can’t even hit me in a fair fight, what could you hope to do in an unfair one?”

“Blame Derek!” Stiles hissed, “He’s the one that’s supposed to be training me to be speedy!”

“I can't work on your endurance if you yell at me to slow down every two minutes.” Derek stuck his head out from the tree he was in above Stiles, teaching Scott how to track from above ground.

Derek smiled and winked at him before disappearing back into the leaves. Stiles stood on the ground, looking up at the tree with his mouth hung open.

Derek did not, in fact, kill Stiles for antagonizing Kate. But Stiles figured that was only because Scott didn’t tell Derek. Which was awesome, cuz Scott was his bro.

“Shitfuckdamn!” Stiles yelped as he feet were swept out from under him.

“Never shift your focus in a fight.” Laura stood over him with her hand held out, Stiles reached up and grabbed it and she pulled him close to whisper in his ear, “Even if my brother did wear those jeans because I told him you’d appreciate how good his ass looked in them.”

Stiles blushed, and then he headbutted Laura in the face and broke her nose.

Laura was so impressed she bought him a milkshake.

 

Thursday

 

“What’s going on with you and Lydia?” Erica asked, dropping into the seat in front of Stiles in the library.

Stiles shifted his head to the side, around the stack of yearbooks he’d been staring at for the last twenty minutes while trying to work up the courage to open them, and asked, “What do you mean?”

Erica rolled her eyes, “You guys haven’t said one word to each other all week.”

“Have you been…spying on me?” Stiles narrowed his eyes.

Erica scoffed, “I’m not that creepy, Stilinski. I just have eyes.”

Stiles scrubbed a hand over his face and pushed the stack of yearbooks to the side, “Lydia and I are fine. We’re the best of friends with no animosity at all.”

Erica leaned forward and hissed, “Lies!”

“Oh my god,” Stiles groaned, “It’s nothing! I was an asshole and she’s mad at me.”

Erica leaned back in her chair and folded her arms over her chest, “I knew you’d be the asshole in the whole thing. What did you do?”

“Hey!” Stiles protested, which drew an angry glare from the librarian, “And that’s none of your business!”

“It’s my business when I have a project to do with the two of you!” Erica pointed her finger at Stiles, “I’m only in Econ because the new guidance counselor said it would look good on my college applications, I’m not going to risk my grade because you’re an asshole who wears a stupid hoodie and doesn’t know how to apologize.”

“That was…oddly specific.” Stiles said, confused.

“I may have talked to Lydia before I talked to you.”

Stiles scoffed, “Of course.”

“She told me to ask you what you did,” Erica said, “and if you felt any shame about it.”

“Of course I feel shame!” Stiles banged his hand on the table, the librarian glared again, “I didn’t think it would piss her off that I told Scott, but that’s what I do! I don’t think before I do things and it hurts people and makes them upset and then they’re mad at me and I don’t know what to do!”

Erica’s eyes were wide, “That is…a lot to process.”

Stiles dropped his head, “Sorry.”

“Have you apologized to Lydia?”

“What?”

Erica sighed, “Did you actually say you’re sorry to Lydia?”

“Yeah…I mean…I think?” Stiles cocked his head to the side.

He couldn’t remember if he’d apologized to her directly. Stiles knew he’d said something to that effect when she first realized he’d told Scott, but Stiles had been so wrapped up in everything that had happened over the weekend that he didn’t just go up to Lydia and simply tell her he’s sorry.

Well, shit.

Erica raised her eyebrow, “I think you should probably start with that.”

Stiles left Erica in the library a few minutes before the bell rang so he could try and get to Lydia before Econ. The end of period bell rang, and Stiles pressed himself against the wall to avoid the flood of students in the hallways until he saw Lydia coming down the stairs.

“Lydia!” Stiles said as he got closer to her.

Lydia walked right past him.

Stiles sighed, “Lydia, I’m sorry!”

Lydia stopped, the crowd parting around her as she stood still for a few seconds before turning on her heel and looking at Stiles.

She raised a single eyebrow, unspoken Lydia language for ‘continue’.

“I’m so sorry, Lydia.” Stiles said again, “I was a dick, and an asshole, and a shitty friend, and I’m really bad at apologizing but I’m trying.”

Lydia sighed and rolled her eyes. Stiles winced, waiting for her to turn her back to him and walk down the hallway.

Surprisingly, Lydia took a few steps forward.

“Don’t do it again.”

Stiles nodded.

“Good.” Lydia smiled, “My parents are finally getting me a new car on Saturday.”

 

Friday

 

Stiles found himself back in the library, this time before school even began. Stiles was maybe deluding himself thinking he could work up the courage to open the yearbooks if he was alone in the library without anyone to surprise him or ask him why he was looking at yearbooks from six years ago.

Stiles reached out and grabbed the first yearbook on the stack, what would have been Derek’s freshman year and Laura’s junior.

He opened it and turned to the back page of the yearbook, the index of every page a student appears on. He scanned through the pages until he got to the ‘H’ section and ran his finger down the list until he found Hale.

There, under Stiles’ finger, were Laura and Derek’s name.  Derek, only appearing on one page, while Laura was featured on at least fifteen.

Stiles hesitated before turning to the page Derek was on. He could still back out, still close the book and pretend like he never thought of the whole idea and leave Derek’s life untouched.

Stiles flipped the page, he was never good at talking himself out of bad ideas.

There, looking up at him in black and white, was freshman Derek Hale.

Derek then was about as far of a cry from Derek now as he could have been. There was not a bit of stubble in sight, his ears were huge, and most heart wrenching of all, he was smiling as if he didn’t have a single care in the world, tiny bunny teeth front and center.

Stiles let his finger linger over Derek’s photo for a few more seconds before he flipped to the page Laura was on.

Laura looked almost the same in her pictures, though without the added weight of the world on her shoulders. She was in various clubs, activities, and even nominated for prom queen.

Stiles sighed and flipped the yearbook closed, pushing it off to the side before grabbing the book that contained Derek’s sophomore and Laura’s senior years.

Stiles opened the book to the index again, this time surprised to find that Derek had two full rows of page numbers next to his name.

“Someone got popular.” Stiles grinned to himself.

There were pages upon pages of Derek. Derek on the basketball team, Derek on the baseball team, and Derek Hale, Homecoming King.

Stiles looked down at the page, Derek in full color and smiling ear to ear with an over the top crown on his head and his arms wrapped around a beautiful girl long brown hair. Another photo of Derek and the girl was right next to their crowning, the two of them pressed close together on the dance floor while kissing.

Stiles was absolutely _not_ feeling a surge of overwhelming jealousy as he ran his finger along the caption to find the girls name.

 _Homecoming King and Queen, Derek Hale (Right) and Paige Krasikeva (Left) share a tender kiss on the dancefloor just moments after being crowned_. _Paige was all smiles when asked how she felt about her win, “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our one-year anniversary than to drive everyone crazy with how much we love each other.”_

Stiles closed the yearbook and sat it on top of the previous one.

It wasn’t like Stiles had expected Derek to have zero dating history, he just hadn’t expected to see a smiling Derek looking at someone else in a way that Stiles would literally dream Derek looked at him. And Derek had yet to even mention Paige, for all Stiles knew they could still be together and Derek’s actions the other night could solely be blamed on the fact that he was dying.

There was one yearbook left, what would have been Derek’s junior year. It was the year of the fire and Stiles wasn’t exactly sure what he would find inside, but he certainly didn’t expect the first thing he saw when he opened the book to be an in-memoriam section for Paige.

“Shit.” Stiles whispered, feeling like a complete asshole.

There was nothing that said how Paige died, which was a given since it was a yearbook, but there were at least forty pictures of her. Ones of Paige laughing with friends, ones of her with her eyes closed and a violin pressed against her shoulder, and the same picture of her and Derek smiling at their Homecoming Dance.

Stiles pulled out his phone, his need to know all the information available trumping his common decency. He pulled up Google, put in Paige’s name, and clicked the first article that came up.

_The death of Paige Krasikeva has officially been ruled an accident._

_Authorities were called to the Beacon Hills preserve late Friday evening by Krasikeva’s boyfriend, Derek Hale. Hale told the 911 operator that he and his girlfriend were walking late one evening in the preserve when they came upon an abandoned root cellar and decided to look inside. Hale then said that Krasikeva slipped on the stairs and fell, she was unresponsive when Hale rushed to her aid. Hale was found sitting outside of the cellar, accompanied by his mother, Talia Hale, as paramedics arrived and pronounced Krasikeva dead on the scene, the cause of death a broken neck._

_The Sherriff’s department launched a mandatory investigation and announced early this morning that Derek Hale had been cleared of any wrong doing, owing the accident that took Krasikeva’s life to a broken step on the dilapidated staircase of the root cellar._

The date of the article meant that Paige would have died in the summer between sophomore and junior year.

Stiles scrubbed a hand down his face and let out a long sigh, “Fuck.”

He really, really wished he hadn’t read that. Stiles couldn’t imagine what Derek had gone thought, losing his girlfriend, and then his entire family? But he also had to wonder if there was something more to the story, it stuck out to him that Derek’s mother was on the scene when the paramedics arrived. Maybe Talia was close by, or maybe something else happened. Stiles knew Derek didn't killed her, but it was Beacon Hills and there was always something just under the surface.

Stiles shook his head and pocketed his phone, trying to forget everything he’d just read before his brain started spinning its own stories. There was no use wondering if Paige’s death had anything to do with the supernatural, it wouldn’t help them in any way.

When Stiles checked the index for the final yearbook, Derek was only listed on one page. There was no official photo of him that year, the fire must have happened before picture day.

The only page Derek appeared on was a feature on the new tutoring program run by the school. Derek was seated at a table, his head turned away from the camera while a teacher stood above him with long blond hair in a ponytail, leaning over to look at his work with a hand on his shoulders.

_Derek Hale, Junior, receives extra attention on his English paper from year-long substitute Ms. Argent._

Stiles knuckles turned white as he gripped the book before slamming it closed.

Fuck.

It was so obvious to see what had happened now.

Kate took advantage of Paige’s death, took advantage of how fragile Derek probably was, manipulated and violated him, and then killed his entire family.

Fuck. Fuck.

Stiles was going to be sick.

The bell rang overhead, startling Stiles and causing him to jump in his seat. He quickly gathered the yearbooks, placed them on the shelf, left the library, and then left the school.

Twelve minutes later, Stiles pulled into the sheriff’s station.

Tara was the first to spot him the second he stepped in the door, “Shouldn’t you be at school?”

“Free period.” Stiles lied easily, “Dad here? I was going to see if he wanted breakfast.”

Tara shook her head, “He ran out a little bit ago, but he should be back soon.”

“I’ll just go wait in his office then,” Stiles smiled, “I wouldn’t want to distract you or anything.”

Tara rolled her eyes and shooed him away with a wave.

Stiles closed the office door behind himself before dropping into his dad’s chair. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was going to tell him, if he was going to drop the w-bomb, but he just knew he had to tell him something.

He kicked his feet up on the desk, recalling the chair backwards, and stared off into space. His eyes drifted around the room until they fell on the rolling whiteboard his dad had set up in the corner of his office. Stiles would have ignored it on any other day, it was usually just around the help his dad keep track of files that would otherwise litter his desk, but today the whiteboard had something written on it that was screaming at Stiles to pay attention.

There, in black dry erase marker and enclosed in a harsh red circle, were two words.

Hale Fire.

Stiles jumped from the chair, banging it against the back wall in the process, and stopped in front of the board. It was filled with documents from the original case, the report from the fire marshal stating that it was faulty wiring that led to the blaze, the reports from the insurance adjuster backing it up. And, in Stiles’ dad’s distinct handwriting, ‘arson?’.

“Holy shit.” Stiles whispered, “How the fuck?”

How had his dad come to this conclusion? Why was his dad even looking into the fire at all? It couldn’t just be because Derek and Laura were back in town, there had to be a _reason_.

Stiles scanned the documents again, pulling back a few sheet protectors and balking when he saw pictures of dead bodies. Stiles slapped a hand over his mouth to stop the yelp that almost escaped as he looked at Mr. Harris’ almost completely sever head.

“Holy fuck.” Stiles mumbled behind his hand.

Harris was an asshole, sure, but Stiles didn’t need to see him like _that_.

But why was Harris’ crime scene photo included on a board about the fire? His dad couldn’t have thought Harris was connected to it in any way.

Stiles pulled a few more sheet proctors away, this time confronted by scenes of the other victims in town. The first, the guy at the video store, was disemboweled. The second, the bus driver, was decapitated. Stiles shuddered, the Rougarou sure knew how to handle its business.

Stiles ran his finger along the board, stopping at the names of the victims. The video store clerk was Harrison Gaines, and the bus driver was Richard Altman.

“Gaines and Altman…” Stiles whispered to himself, “Why do you sound so familiar?”

He blinked a few times, and then Stiles pulled the files from the original Hale fire investigation off the board. He read over the report from the fire marshal and almost crushed the paper in his hands when he got to the end.

_Signed, H. Gaines_

Stiles held his breath as he read of the report from the insurance company, not at all surprised when he reached the signature at the bottom of the page.

_Richard Altman._

The Rougarou was killing people involved in the fire.

Stiles read the two reports side by side. They matched up, they both covered the same points and agreed that the cause of the fire was faulty wiring. But there was something off, something that just didn’t sit right, so Stiles read them again. It only took him a few seconds to figure out what was bothering him about the reports.

“They both say the same thing.” Stiles shook his head, “It’s almost word for word.”

It was like someone wrote the same report twice, and then just changed the conjunctions and added synonyms to the other so it wouldn’t appear identical.

Gaines and Altman covered up the fire. They were either working for Kate, or being blackmailed by her, and they went along with whatever story she told them.

Stiles pulled out his phone and took a few pictures of the board, then close ups of each document, and his dads handwriting so he could go over all of it later. Then he put the board back together, replacing everything from the exact spot he took it and covering each of the crime scene photos.

Talking to his dad would have to wait, he needed to get to Laura and Derek and tell them about this now. It was what they’d been looking for, a reason for all of this.

Stiles opened the door to the office and froze hallway when he heard his dads voice coming from down the hall.

“Shit!” He hissed, cracking the door so he could still hear but staying out of sight.

“I have a class to teach, Sheriff.” An annoyed voice said.

Stiles knew the voice.

“Kate?”

“I understand, Miss Argent.” The Sheriff said, “I just need a few minutes of your time.”

“And it couldn’t wait until after school?” Kate sighed.

“Unfortunately not.” The Sheriff walked back his office and lead Kate down the hallway, opening a door that Stiles knew lead to an interrogation room.

His dad was _interrogating_ Kate?

Stiles figured Derek and Laura could wait a few extra minutes, he had to find out what the fuck was going on. He stuck his head out into the hallway, checking left and right to make sure the coast was clear before slipping out and walking casually to the door a few feet from the one his dad and Kate entered.

Stiles opened the door to the viewing room slowly, praying that no one else was inside. When he didn’t hear anything after opening the door, he quickly slipped inside and locked the door behind himself. He didn’t want to be interrupted.

He watched through the two-way mirror as his dad sat down in front of Kate and pulled out a folder.

“Have you heard about the incident last Friday night?”

Kate nodded, “I heard a few of my students mention it.”

“So you’re aware that there was some kind of…gun fight in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the industrial district?” The Sheriff asked.

Kate shifted in her seat, “Yes.”

The Sheriff nodded, “Do you remember being arrested about ten years ago?”

Kate actually looked shocked at that question, but she laughed, “Underage drinking.”

His dad smiled fondly, “So you remember being fingerprinted?”

Kate’s eyes went wide, “What does that have to do with anything?”

Well,” his dad flipped open the folder, “we found this gun in the parking lot. It’s real heavy-duty stuff, not your run of the mill rifles you can go down to Walmart and pick up. There was a set of fingerprints on it, and when we ran them only one match came back. Yours.”

“Holy shit.” Stiles whispered, “He’s got her. He’s fucking got her.”

Kate’s eyes shifted towards the glass, looking in Stiles direction for a brief second before turning back at the Sheriff. Good, Stiles thought, she thinks she’s being watched by other deputies.

“My car was broken into,” Kate said easily, “someone must have stolen one of my guns.”

His dad leaned back in his chair, “And you didn’t report it?”

“I hadn’t realized it was stolen.” Kate said, “I never checked to see if someone had broken into the trunk.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, there was no way his dad was buying that.

“Where were you Saturday night between one and six am.”

“At my brother’s house.”

“Can anyone verify that?”

Kate nodded.

His dad looked skeptical, “Someone can verify your whereabouts for that entire time period?”

“My brother, sister-in-law, and I stayed up talking until about five, and then I was on a Skype call with my father until just before six.”

Stiles gritted his teeth.

His dad made a list of everything, “I’ll have to follow up on those. Could you please give me some way to contact your father?”

Kate splayed her hands out on the table and recited a phone number for his dad to copy down.

Stiles sighed and ran a hand across his head. Kate was going to fucking get away with it, all the Argents would lie for her, and she’d be free to do whatever the fuck it is she wanted to do.

Whatever.

If his dad couldn’t stop her, then Stiles and the rest of the pack would have to. He left the viewing room, slipping past Tara’s desk unseen on the way out, and got into his jeep.

Derek didn’t answer when Stiles called, so he tried Laura next.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” Laura said.

“Are you with Derek?” Stiles asked.

“He’s asleep,” Laura said, “What’s wrong?”

“I was just at my dad’s office, and he figured something out about the Rougarou.”

“What?” Laura growled.

“Not the Rougarou specially,” Stiles winced, “sorry, that was bad wording. But he’s been looking into the guys who were murdered, and he figured something out.”

“What is it, Stiles?” Laura’s voice was low.

“The video store clerk and the bus driver were both connected to the fire…” Stiles trailed off, “One was the fire marshal at the time, and the other was the insurance adjuster who investigated the claim.”

The other end of the line was quiet, Stiles couldn’t even hear Laura breathing.

“Laura?” Stiles asked hesitantly.

“Pet-the Rougarou is killing people that looked into the fire?”

“I think they helped cover it up,” Stiles said, “I read their reports, they were almost identical, it was too much to be a coincidence. My dad must have figured it out after he investigated the backgrounds of the victims. He also has Harris on the board, but I don’t really get that one.”

“Jesus,” Laura whispered, “Fuck. Thank you for telling me.”

Stiles winced, “There’s something else.”

“What?” Laura sighed.

“My dad has Kate in an interrogation room right now.”

“ _What_?” Laura hissed, “Why?”

“Her prints were on the gun, and her prints are in the system here. She was arrested when she was 18, my dad ran them and got a hit.”

“Well I’ll be dammed.” Laura sounded a bit lighter, “She’ll find a way out of it, I’m sure.”

Stiles scoffed, “She already had an alibi ready and waiting.”

“Of course.”

Laura went quite for a few seconds again, Stiles asked, “Are you OK? Like, really OK and not just ‘I have to be OK because I’m the Alpha’ OK?”

Stiles heard Laura swallow, and then she laughed, sounding a bit watery, “I honestly don’t know.”

“Do you need anything?”

“No,” Laura said quickly, sniffling, “you’ve already done more than I could have asked for. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“I do.” Laura said, “I really, really, do.”

“Are you going to tell Derek?”

“Yeah,” Laura said, “I’ll let him sleep a bit longer, but he’ll want to know this.”

“OK.” Stiles nodded to himself, “Will you tell him he can call me after…if he needs to?”

 Laura laughed softly, “I won’t have to tell him that, Stiles.”

 

Saturday

Everything went to shit.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was too lazy to look up the names of the dudes who were killed in season one so i just made up my own lmao 
> 
> im SO EXCITED for the next chapter, it's one of the ones i've been looking forward to since i started writing this and i can't wait to finish it lol


	23. Night Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *points at chapter title* heh
> 
> i always knew this chapter was going to be long but i didn't expect it to end up at 14,443 words lmao

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Three

Night Project

 

“I can’t believe you woke me up at 6am on a Saturday for this.”

Derek looked over his shoulder at Stiles and shrugged. This was Stiles’ fault for asking Derek to help him.

“I told you when I agreed to help you that weekends weren’t off limits.”

Derek could feel Stiles’ eyes glaring holes into his back and he was glad Stiles couldn’t see the grin on his face.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think they would mean you showing up outside my window before sunrise without even bringing me _coffee_.”

“And if I’d brought you coffee then you’d have been fine with it?” Derek asked with an eye roll.

“Nope,” Stiles hummed, “but I’d be marginally less of an asshole.”

“Noted.” Derek said, coming to a stop in the middle of a peaceful clearing in the woods.

Derek shrugged the bag off his shoulder and sat it on the ground, tipping his head up towards the early morning sunlight and taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air. Nowhere else Derek had ever been smelled quite like the woods of Beacon Hills, it was quiet and comforting in a way Derek hadn’t experienced in so long. Derek felt himself smiling and quickly reached up to rub it off his face, surprising himself that he was able to feel so comfortable in a place that he hated.

When Derek opened his eyes, he saw Stiles bouncing back and forth on the balls of his heels, clearly trying to get the blood pumping in his veins. He watched in amusement as Stiles braced himself against a tree and leaned forward to stretch out his legs, Derek’s eyes zeroing in on the stretch of exposed skin on Stiles’ throat.

Derek coughed when he realized he’d been staring, startling Stiles.

Stiles looked up at him, confused, “What?”

Derek shook his head, “What are you doing?”

“Stretching.”

“Why?”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Seriously? You were the one who lectured me for fifteen minutes the other day about proper stretching techniques before and after running.”

Derek sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “We’re not out here to run, Stiles.”

“Excuse me?” Stiles gaped, “You woke me up at the ass crack of dawn to ‘work on my breathing techniques’, and we’re not running? What are we doing then?”

Derek ignored the way Stiles mimicked him by dropping his voice and octave lower and forming stupid claws with his hands and reached down to the bag he’d just dropped. He unzipped the bag and pulled out two soft rolls of foam and tossed one to Stiles.

“Is this a yoga mat?”

Derek nodded.

“We’re doing yoga?”

Derek nodded again.

“ _You_ do yoga?”

“Occasionally.” Derek said, unfurling his mat and placing it on the ground.

It was the truth. He’d started it in New York after spending a few stringless nights with a rather flexible yoga instructor, not that Stiles needed to know that part. Still, Derek had listened when she talked about how yoga helped her center herself and control her emotions when she was upset, and Derek figured it was either yoga or a therapist.

Derek chose yoga.

Obviously.

He didn’t practice it daily like most everyone else did, only when he felt himself becoming totally overwhelmed. He felt fine today, but he also knew that yoga was a good way to relax your body and spirt, and Stiles could use some damn relaxation.

“Get the jokes over with,” Derek mumbled, “I’m waiting for them.”

In truth, Derek was a bit afraid to expose this side of himself to Stiles. Stiles had mostly only seen him as a lather wearing, fang having, emotionally constipated tight ass. Derek didn’t know how Stiles would react, but he expected a few barbed jokes.

Stiles could be vicious with his jokes, he laced them with sarcasm and venom, and Derek was a bit worried about being on the other side of that.

“I’m not going to make fun of you.” Stiles said, as if he was offended that Derek would even think he would. “It’s cool…and nice. I can’t promise I’m going to be like the best Yogi ever, but I’ll try.”

Derek smiled shyly, turning so Stiles couldn’t see, “The teacher is normally called the Yogi.”

Stiles was quiet for a moment, and when Derek turned around to see why, he sputtered. Stiles was kneeling on the ground, his hands clasped together in prayer position, looking up at Derek with huge, blinking brown eyes.

“Help me, Yogi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”

Stiles absentminded licked his lips, the innocent look still on his face. Derek bit down on his tongue, hard enough to taste blood, and swallowed deeply.

Just as Derek opened his mouth to reply, Stiles fell to his side, rolling around on the ground while he cackled at the top of his lungs.

“God damn, I’m proud of that one. I’m so powerful. My mind...it amazes me sometimes.”

Derek released his tongue, feeling it heal instantly, and he looked down at Stiles. Stiles was laying in the grass, arms and legs outstretched as he looked up at the sky. It was everything Derek could do to not pounce on him right there. He couldn’t. Not with Stiles, not while he was in Beacon Hills with all its ghosts and demons of the past. Not with Kate lurking around every corner.

“You’re very funny,” Derek said, trying to keep his tone as flat as possible, “I bow to your superior comedic skills. Can we start now?”

“Whatever you say, Yogi Bear!” Stiles gave him a salute, “Or…Yogi Wolf.”

Derek flashed his eyes at him, “Don’t even think about calling me that again.”

Stiles held his hands up in surrender and turned to unfurl his yoga mat.

Derek sat down on his, his legs crossed, and closed his eyes as he breathed in the smell of the forest. He let his hands rest palm down on his thighs and took in a deep, calming breath.

“Am I supposed to be doing this too?” Stiles whispered.

Derek waited a beat to answer, “Yes. Quietly.”

“Got it.” Stiles whispered, “Quietly.”

To Stiles’ credit, he was quiet and generally tried to listen to whatever Derek told him. His pulse was still racing, pounding in Derek’s ears like a kick drum, but Derek could tell Stiles was making an actual effort to take the whole thing seriously.

“You’re fast, but you have no stamina.” Derek said, “I’m going to show you a few poses to try and help you with your breathing techniques, I want you to do them at least once a day. Like it or not, if it really comes down to it you’re going to have to be able to run, fast and for long distances, if things go badly sometimes.”

“Derek…”

Derek shook his head, “I know you’re working with Laura on combat, I’m not invalidating that. I’m just being realistic. Laura can teach you every kind of fighting technique but at the end of the day you’re still a human. You can’t expect to be able to fight everything that you come across. It’s not a sign of weakness to run.”

“Yoga Derek is very talkative.” Derek could hear the smile in Stiles’ voice.

They worked for about an hour, Derek leading Stiles through a variety of poses meant to strengthen his lungs and open his respiratory system. Bridge, Cat, Cobra, Locust, and, Stiles’ favorite, Upward Dog. Derek kept the poses as beginner friendly as he could, not making Stiles do anything that could hurt himself. By the time their hour was done, Derek could tell that Stiles connected with at least a little bit of it.

Stiles was notably more relaxed, he wasn’t constantly vibrating in place or drumming his hands on his things as he had been earlier. He looked content. It made Derek smile.

“That was not terrible.” Stiles said, taking a gulp of water.

“I’ll make sure to put that review on my website.” Derek said before taking a bite of his Cliff Bar.

“Hey, show me one of the hardest poses that you can do.” Stiles said, sitting the bottle down next to him.

Derek ran though the poses he knew he could accomplish in his mind, taking a bit of extra time to decide which one was the coolest and most visually impressive.

He wanted Stiles to think he was cool, OK?

Derek took a deep breath, “Do not try to do this.”

Stiles laughed, “Dude, I could barely pull off that Locust one, there is no danger in me ever attempting what you’re about to do.”

Derek kneeled on the mat, placing his hands flat on the ground in front of him with his wrists facing Stiles and his fingers pointed back at himself. He tucked his elbows in against his stomach and took a deep breath, leaving forward and feeling his muscles strain as he listed himself off the ground.

“Holy crap.” Stiles whispered.

Derek smirked, ready to show off just a bit. Derek stretched his legs out from the Lotus position so that they were sticking straight out. He took another deep breath and lifted them slowly so that his body was making a rough obtuse angle.

“Now you’re just showing off.” Stiles laughed.

Derek looked up, catching Stiles eyes and holding his stare as he shifted all his weight to his left-hand side and took his right hand off the ground, sticking it out to the side as he balanced completely on his left hand.

Stiles gaped at him, his mouth hanging open.

Derek laughed softly, slowly bringing his hand back into position before easing out of the pose.

“That was Peacock, and then I transitioned into Wounded Peacock.”

“Peacock, huh?” Stiles grinned, “Are you showing off for me, Derek?”

Fuck. Derek hadn’t even thought of that. He felt himself starting to blush.

“It was awesome.” Stiles said, “Can we make this like…a thing?”

“A thing?” Derek repeated.

“Yeah,” Stiles shrugged, “Like, Derek and Stiles’ Weekly Yoga Adventure or something.”

“You really want to?” Derek asked.

He hadn’t expected that. He’d expected Stiles to think it was stupid, not for him to want to do it more often.

“I had my doubts.” Stiles admitted, “But it was like, weirdly calming. And I know that’s what yoga is supposed to do, but like, it’s me so I didn’t expect that. And you’re a good teacher. And your voice is very calming when it’s Zen and not growling at things in the night.”

Derek’s body was tingling, “Sure.”

Derek agreed easily. Agreeing to do something with Stiles every week was the easiest thing Derek had agreed to in a while.

“Cool.” Stiles smiled, “I’m going to get the best yoga pants.”

Derek was glad Stiles’ back was to him, so he couldn’t see Derek completely flatten his Cliff Bar in his fist at the idea of Stiles in yoga pants.

Stiles checked his phone, “I told dad that I’d be back by 8. He wants us to have breakfast together.”

They gathered up their tings and started back to the car, walking though the woods in companionable silence for a few minutes.

“So…” Stiles trailed off, “Not to risk the whole Zen atmosphere we have going on but…Laura did tell you what I found out yesterday, right?”

Derek had been waiting for Stiles to bring it up all morning. He was impressed that Stiles had lasted as long as he did without saying anything.

“Yeah.”

“Oh, cool.” Stiles said, “I, uh, told Laura to tell you that you could call me if you needed someone who wasn’t your sister or something to talk to.”

“I know,” Derek looked over at Stiles, “thank you.”

“You’re OK then?” Stiles glanced to the side.

“I was upset for a minute.” Derek said honestly.

He’d been a little more than upset though. He’d been angry. Furious. Laura had watched him all afternoon to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. He’d wanted to call Stiles, to hear his voice and try to calm himself, but Derek didn’t want to talk to Stiles while he was that upset.  

“I’m sorry.” Stiles frowned.

Derek shook his head, “You don’t have anything to be sorry for. I’m glad you found out what you did. I was angry for a while, but when I calmed down I almost felt…relieved. Laura and I have known for years that it was arson, that it was Kate who killed our entire family. But it was just us. We didn’t think anyone in town would believe us, so we left. But…you dad figured it out. He’s actually looking into it and I know he hates Laura and I, but he’s still looking into it and that’s more than anyone has ever done for us in a long time.”

Stiles was quiet for a second before speaking, “My dad doesn’t hate you. He thinks you’re a bad influence and possibly half of a sibling serial killer team, but he doesn’t hate you. He’s not playing with all the cards so he doesn’t get to see the Derek and Laura that I do.”

Derek felt the sharp pain of guilt in his stomach. He knew how close Stiles and his dad were, and they’d been strained ever since Derek showed up to town.

“I’m sorry you have to lie for us. It’s not fair.”

Stiles shook his head, “Don’t put that on yourself. I made my decision, not you.”

“But-”

Stiles cut him off, “You’ve got to stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, Atlas.”

Stiles bumped their shoulders together, smiling up at him. Derek felt the warm line of Stiles’ body next to him, not feeling the least bit uncomfortable when Stiles didn’t immediately move away from him. They walked for the next few minutes with their sides pressed together, Stiles hand occasionally brushing against the back of Derek’s until they got to the clearing where they’d parking their cars.

They said their goodbyes, and Derek watched until Stiles was safely in his Jeep and down the road before he got into the Camaro and drove back to his apartment. He spent the entire drive with the lingering phantom touch of Stiles against his side.

 

X

 

Laura sat her phone on the counter and looked back at Derek. Derek was sprawled over the couch, his arm dangling off the side as he absentmindedly flipped though the TV. He looked relaxed, he’d looked like that ever since he came back from training with Stiles earlier in the morning.

She’d wondered at first if they finally got their shit together and made the moves they’d both obviously wanted to make on each other, but Laura would have been able to tell if they’d done anything serious. Still, the look on Derek’s face all morning long told Laura that they were certainly getting close to ending their hilariously endearing circling of each other.

“How long are you going to be gone?” Derek asked when he realized Laura was off the phone.

“I’m supposed to meet with them after 6pm,” Laura said, “Beacon City is a little under two hours away, so I should be out of here by 4.”

“I still wish you’d let me come with you.” Derek said with a surly look on his face.

“I know, but I need you here looking after Scott and Stiles.” Laura said, “Besides, Deaton said they’d only meet with the Alpha directly.”

“What part of that doesn’t sound suspicious to you?”

Laura rolled her eyes, “The part where I’m going to meet people that Deaton has been friends with for decades.”

Laura had gone to Deaton shortly after talking with Stiles the day before. She’d told him everything Stiles told her, how the Sheriff had figured out that the fire wasn’t an accident and was digging into the cover up. If anyone knew anything about the time after the fire, it’d be Deaton.

Laura could tell immediately that there was something that Deaton wasn’t telling her. It only took a few minutes of guilt tripping for Deaton to confess that he’d had someone investigate the fire years ago, just before Derek and Laura had left town.

Deaton told her that he had a friend in Beacon City who was a sort of private investigator for the supernatural community. She was discrete, efficient, and trustworthy. He’d asked her father to look into the fire after it happened to see if there was anything he could figure out.

Deaton didn’t know how the investigation turned out, he’d told his friend to drop it when Laura decided to leave town. He didn’t think it was worth the danger if Laura and Derek weren’t going to stick around.

He’d said his friend had died a year ago, but that his daughter had taken over the business and that if her father had found anything he’d have kept the information stored away just incase Deaton changed his mind.

Deaton had called her yesterday, and she’d gotten back to Laura earlier in the morning.

Laura’s conversation with Braeden was brief, she’d told Laura that she found files her father had kept but she wouldn’t discuss anything over the phone and she’d only meet with Deaton or Laura herself. Laura didn’t begrudge her paranoia and told Braeden she could meet with her later in the evening.

“We don’t know this girl. We don’t know if she even has anything useful.” Derek said.

“I know,” Laura admitted, “but if Deaton said she’s trustworthy then I believe him, and I’d like to think she wouldn’t waste both of our times if she didn’t have something worth while to bring me out to the city.”

“I still don’t like it.” Derek huffed.

Laura walked over to him, dropping down onto the couch as she carded her fingers through Derek’s hair. Derek reflexively curled up next to her, and Laura smiled when he let out an annoyed grunt.

Laura said softly, “I wish you could go with me, but I need you here.”

“Yeah.” Derek agreed, still surly.

“So,” Laura said, changing the subject, “How was yoga? You came back…relaxed.”

Derek, for once, didn’t glare at her, “It was yoga. Stiles is good at it, or at least good at not talking through it.”

“Seriously?” Laura laughed.

She couldn’t imagine Stiles being quiet for more than a few seconds at a time, let alone quite enough to not piss Derek off when he was trying to be Zen.

“He wants to keep doing it, so we’re going to add it into the training rotation.”

“Ahh.” Laura said, now she realized why Derek was in such a good mood when he got home.

Derek looked at her out of the corner of his eye, “What do you mean ‘ahh’?”

“Nothing.” Laura smiled innocently, “I guess I just realized why you were so happy when you got home this morning.”

Derek sat up straight and glared at her, “I was not _happy_!”

Laura rolled her eyes, “Jeez, Der. You act like I just said I saw you in a pointy white hood with a burning cross.”

Derek stood up from the couch, “You said you were going to leave me alone about this!”

Laura stayed seated, reaming calm, “I said I wasn’t going to bothering you about doing something with him, nowhere did I say I wasn’t going to talk about the fact that you seem happy. It’s not such a terrible thing to be happy, Der. You’re allowed to not be miserable.”

“Shut up!” Derek growled.

“You feel guilty.” The realization struck Laura suddenly. Derek felt guilty that he was happy, he felt guilty that he was back in Beacon Hills and he’d somehow found something, someone, who made him feel a little less miserable.

Derek turned his back to Laura, “Of course I feel guilty. I feel happy, and then I feel guilty, and then I feel happy again, and it just makes it worse.”

Laura stood up from the couch and walked over to Derek, turning him so they were facing each other, “Derek.”

Derek moved his head to the side, his eyes cast down to the floor.

“Derek.” Laura said, a little more forcefully, “Look at me.”

Derek sighed but eventually lifted his head to look at Laura.

Laura smiled softly, “You’re allowed to be happy. You’re allowed to be content. You don’t have to walk around pretending to not be miserable, or only half enjoying things in life, that’s not what they would want. Do you think mom would want you walking around hating the world? Of course not! She’d want you to be happy.”

“You don’t understand.” Derek started, but he cut himself off.

Laura took in a deep breath. She understood. She really, really did. Laura knew a lot more than Derek thought she did, but now wasn’t the time to bring any of that up.

“I understand that you’re my brother,” Laura’s hands tightened on his shoulders, “and you’re my second.”

Derek looked up at that, his eyes wide, “I’m your second?”

Laura smiled, a small laugh escaping her lips, “Of course you are. You’ve always been my second.”

“There’s only been two of us.” Derek pointed out.

Laura rolled her eyes, “Even before then. I always knew I’d want you as my second. There’s no one else I would have trusted.”

Derek looked like he was about to say something, so Laura pulled him into a tight hug. Derek was no doubt about to say something self-deprecating to ruin the moment, and Laura was really into the moment they were having.

It took a second, but Derek’s arms slowly closed around her and pulled Laura close. They stood together for a few minutes, not speaking, until Derek pushed himself away and ran a hand though his hair.

“Just promise me you’ll try.” Laura said, “I won’t bring up anything related to you and Stiles if you promise to just try and be happy, even if that does or doesn’t include kissing him.”

“Laura!” Derek blushed and turned his head away.

“That was it!” Laura held her hands up in surrender, “That was the last thing I’m going to say.”

 

X

 

“So, it’s just the two of us?”

Stiles was momentarily startled by Erica’s voice, the way it dropped into a throaty, more seductive tone than she usually spoke with. He turned slowly, and slightly horrified, to see her half draped through the lowered window of his Jeep.

“Uh…”

Erica burst out into a fit of laughter, “You should see your face right now!”

Stiles instantly felt his skin flush, “You! Huh! What?”

Erica rolled her eyes and opened the door, climbing into the Jeep, “I’m just fucking with you, Stilinski.”

“Oh.” Stiles whispered, slightly relieved.

“If the look of pure horror on your face wasn’t so fucking hilarious, I’d be super offended.”

Stiles cringed, realizing how he’d reacted.

“It’s fine,” Erica laughed, “I had the same look on my face this morning when my parents asked me why I was brining my _boyfriend_ over to meet them.”

“Your what?” Stiles gaped, “They think we’re dating?”

Erica rolled her eyes, “Apparently when you go a few years without friends, and then suddenly start hanging out with one guy your parents assume you must be fucking him. They’re weirdly heteronormative like that.”

“Oh.” Stiles said, still slightly confused, “And…what did you tell them?”

“I told them that while you’re objectively cute, and don’t give me that look because you are, you’re not really my type.”

Stiles laughed, “And what is your type?”

Erica tipped her head to the side thoughtfully for a moment before she answered, “I think I like some tall, dark, and handsome bullshit or something like that. Someone who will put up with me and let me be in charge but be able to hold me back when I need to.”

“So _definitely_ not me then.” Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Also, a big dick would be a plus.”

Stiles, mid sip of water from his water bottle, spat all over his windshield.

Erica just looked at him innocently and shrugged, “You asked.”

“That was more than I ever needed to know about you.”

Erica rolled her eyes before changing the subject, “Where is everyone else?”

Well, speaking of big dicks, Lydia was going to ride with us, but her parents got her a brand new, shiny BMW this morning, so she pulled a power move and offered to drive Jackson since her car and newer and nicer than his now.”

“I fucking love feminism.” Erica held a fist up in solidarity.

“And Allison and Scott have been hanging out all morning and are going to meet us there too, since she basically has complete control over him whenever she wants.”

Erica grinned, “Beacon Hills women are so powerful.”

Stiles shuddered, it was true. All the women Stiles had surrounded himself with recently were forces of nature.

It didn’t help that Stiles was nervous about Scott being alone with Allison for so long. He’d been doing remarkably well a controlling himself, Stiles had only seen him freak out and lose it once, but still. If anyone would be able to figure out Scott is a werewolf, it would be the person who hunted them. But Stiles also knew Scott and knew that if he said anything it would lead to Scott shutting him out and doing it anyway. At least Stiles knew where Scott was, and what to do if anything went wrong.

And sure, maybe Stiles had been blowing Scott’s phone up every half hour asking for updates and his location but sue him for wanting to make sure his best friend was OK. Especially after what he’d learned about Kate, not that Stile could say anything to Scott about it because it would be betraying a secret that he _wasn’t even supposed to know_.

Talk about a rock and a hard place.

“Where are we meeting?” Erica asked.

“Lydia had to do something dumb with her assigned parking spot so we’re all meeting in the parking lot of the school and then figuring it out from there.”

“Why are we meeting at the school when the library is like right across the street?” Erica looked dubious.

Stiles shrugged, “Ask Lydia. She decides and we all just follow like the lemmings we are.”

“If she ever learns to use her powers for evil then we’re all fucked.” Erica said, buckling her seatbelt.

Stiles pulled out of her driveway and onto the road, the music playing and filling any awkward silences there would be otherwise. When they were halfway to the school, Stiles phone rang. It was sitting in the cup holder between the two front seats, and Erica’s eyes happened to glance at the caller ID.

“Who is America’s Most Wanted?” Erica laughed, “Oh, wait. Don’t tell me.”

Erica’s eyes narrowed, growing a bit evil. She reached for the phone and answered it before Stiles could grab it from her, mostly because he didn’t want to die in a car accident.

“Stiles’ phone.” Erica cooed, answering the phone and putting it on speaker.

Stiles cringed at the silence before the eventual reply from Derek.

An angry growl, “Who is this?”

Erica looked taken aback, and Stiles sighed, Derek wasn’t doing much to help his serial killer image, but he couldn’t begrudge Derek being worried about a strange woman answering his phone.

“Erica!” Stiles half yelled, “Give me the phone!”

Erica stared at it for another second before shrugging and handing it to Stiles when he pulled up to a stop sign. Stiles promptly took it off speaker and cradled it between his ear and shoulder.

“Who was that?” Derek asked, and Stiles didn’t miss the note of panic in his voice.

Stiles aimed for calm, “It’s just my friend, Erica.”

“Erica.” Derek said, like he was trying to make himself remember who she was, “I…I thought it was…for a second.”

“I know.” Stiles said softly, trying to figure out how to have this conversation with Erica sitting right next to him and not so subtly watching him out of the corner of her eye, “Is everything OK?”

Derek coughed, and this his tone was a bit lighter, “Laura’s getting ready to drive down to Beacon City to talk to the person Deaton recommended, I’m just making sure you’re still doing your project tonight so I’ll know where you are.”

Stiles smiled, “Yeah, we’re probably going to be working on it until the library kicks us out.”

“Scott too?”

“Mhm,” Stiles nodded, “Me, Scott, Erica, Lydia, Jackson, and…Allison.”

“Allison.” Derek’s voice was flat.

“Yes,” Stiles took a deep breath, “She’s in the same group as Scott, they’ve been together all day.”

“What?” Derek growled, “How could…”

“Not having this conversation!” Stiles cut him off, “I don’t like it either, but we both know there’s nothing I could do to stop it!”

Derek was silent, and then he huffed out a long breath, “Just tell me if your plans change, I’ll be around.”

“Around?” Stiles laughed, “Is that what you’re calling it.”

“Shut up,” Derek mumbled, “Laura won’t be here, I need to make sure you’re safe.”

Stiles maybe, possibly, probably, had a few butterflies in his stomach, “Thanks. I’m almost to the school, I’ll call you later?”

“Don’t call,” Derek said, “I’ll see you when you get home.”

And that, well, Stiles didn’t really know how to process that. Thankfully, Derek hung up the phone before Stiles could stutter out a reply. He hung up the phone and jammed it in his pocket before pulling into the school parking lot and coming to a stop next to Lydia’s bright blue BMW.

Stiles purposely avoided looking at Erica until they were out of the car. Erica was leaning against the hood of the Jeep and laughed, “I guess I’m not the only one who loves tall, dark, and handsome.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Stiles weakly tried to defend himself.

Erica, never one to be deterred, laughed, “I wonder if Derek had a big di-”

Allison’s car pulled into the parking lot, the horn honking and mercifully cutting Erica off before she could finish _that_ statement. Allison parked on the other side of Lydia and Scott hopped out a second later, walking over to Stiles.

“Dude, why are you so red?”

Stiles jammed a finger in Erica’s direction, “Not a word!”

Erica smiled innocently and mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key.

Allison got out of the car next, dressed in a leather jacket, frilly skirt, and combat boots. She was the epitome of warrior princess, and Stiles didn’t miss the way she and Scott stood a little closer to each other than they usually did.

Stiles watched them out of the corner of his eye, and the moment he saw Scott’s eyes glance down at Allison’s lips for the third time in ten seconds, he knew exactly what they’d spent all day doing together.

Stiles pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Derek was going to be pissed.

Allison and Erica were distracted by each other, trading weird stories, so Stiles grabbed Scott by the elbow and hauled him to the other side of the Jeep.

“Dude! You kissed Allison?”

Scott’s eyes went wide, “How did you know?”

“I’m going to ignore the part where you apparently weren’t going to tell me and just let you know that you’ve looked at her lips more in the last minute than is _humanly_ possible.”

“I was going to tell you.” Scott hung his head, “I just wanted to be happy about it for a while before you got mad at me.”

And that hit Stiles like a punch in the gut, “Scott, man…”

Scott shook his head, “I know you don’t like Allison, OK? I know you, and Derek, and Laura all think it’s a bad idea, but I like her. And she likes me! No one’s ever liked me, Stiles! Dumb, goofy Scott with the inhaler. But Allison liked dumb Scott with the inhaler, she didn’t care that I wasn’t the smartest or couldn’t run two feet without being able to breath. She liked me for me, and maybe she’s evil and kills people like me in her spare time, but maybe she’s good. Maybe she’s not like Kate, or her parents. Everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves before we assume they’re evil.”

Stiles stared at Scott in shock. It was the closest Scott had ever come to yelling at him in the years that they’d know each other, and it made Stiles feel like a fucking asshole.

“Scott,” Stiles whispered, “I…fuck, dude. I’m sorry I made you feel that way. I didn’t realize it bothered you as much as it did.”

Scott kicked at a rock on the ground, “It does.”

Stiles ran a hand over his head, “I’m sorry, I really am. I’ll…I’ll try to keep an open mind about Allison, OK? And I’ll back you up with Derek and Laura.”

“Really?” Scott started to smile, “But you love Laura. _And_ Derek.”

Stiles ignored that insinuation, “Yeah, but you came first. You’re my brother and I’m going to fight for your right to date whoever you want.”

“You’d really do that?”

Stiles shrugged, “I mean, I’m still going to watch her but until she does something that makes me think otherwise I’ll just have to trust you.”

Scott grinned and pulled Stiles into a bone crushing hug, lifting him off the ground and spinning him in a circle.

“My spine!” Stiles hissed, “Dude, my spine!”

Scott released him and sat him back on the ground, looking away sheepishly, “Sorry.”

Stiles reached out and ruffled Scott’s hair, “It’s fine, who needs to use their legs anyway?”

“What are you two doing?” Erica yelled from the other side of the Jeep.

Stiles slammed the door and scurried around the front, holding a pencil in the air, “Scott was helping me find my lucky pencil.”

“Lucky pencil?” Allison crossed her arms over her chest.

Stiles jabbed the pencil in her direction, “Don’t make fun, this pencil has gotten me an A on every project so far.”

Allison held her hands up, “I bow to the power of the lucky pencil.”

“Damn straight.” Stiles nodded.

“Good, you’re all here.” Lydia said from behind the group, startling Stiles.

“Where did you come from?” Stiles asked.

Jackson rolled his eyes, “I know sex is probably a foreign concept for you but when a man and a woman really like each other-”

Lydia slapped Jackson in the stomach, “Don’t be childish.”

Jackson sighed and dropped his shoulders, “Sorry.”

Stiles laughed. He loved watching Lydia terrorize Jackson every time he tried to worm his way back into her good graces.

“Why did you want us to meet you here, Lydia?” Allison asked, “I thought we were doing this at the library?”

“We are,” Lydia hummed, “but if you think I’m parking my brand new car anywhere near that place then you’re insane.”

“And because you don’t want someone to ding your car we all have to walk to the library now?” Stiles deadpanned.

Lydia rolled her eyes, “Don’t be so dramatic, it’s right across the street.”  

“Let’s just get this over with, I’m already pissed I have to waste the rest of my Saturday with Stilinski and McCall breathing on me.”

Stiles ignored Jackson and fell into step with the group as they made their way towards the library.

The Beacon Hills Public Library was one of the largest buildings in the town. It was actually three buildings put together, the city had swooped in and bought up a row of brownstones across from the school after a tree fell on top of the old public library a few miles down the road. There were some generous out of state donations that made the purchase possible, and even more local fundraisers to raise the necessary funds for books and computers.

What resulted was the behemoth in front of them, a building that was probably the size of an airplane hangar but much nicer. It was sectioned off into three sections, one for each original building. The middle area, the general reception area, was three stories high and had more of a traditional library feel while the left section was more catered to kids, and the right section was based around technology.

The group went for the right section when they entered the building, claiming a table next to a bank of computers and signing out the section for the use for the next couple of hours.

“It always trips me out how big this place is,” Erica said, “it feels so out of place here.”

“My parents were pretty pissed when they wouldn’t name it the Whittemore Public Library after they donated most of the money for the inside renovations.” Jackson sighed.

“I’m so sorry,” Erica said, sarcasm dripping in her voice, “that must have been so hard for them.”

The entire table laughed quietly while Jackson fumed, “Who even invited her?”

“I did,” Lydia said, “now shut the hell up and get started on your project.”

Erica leaned over and whispered, “I’m starting to think my type is less talk, dark, and handsome and more short, red, and vicious.”

Stiles laughed under his breath, “Tell me about it.”

They broke off into their respective groups a few minutes later, each taking a separate table and delegating tasks among themselves. Erica and Lydia nominated themselves as the creative division, while Stiles was selected as the person to do _all_ the research.

Stiles liked his research, don’t get him wrong. But he only enjoyed it when the subject was interesting, or it was something that had nothing to do with what he should have been looking up. Needless to say, by the time the third hour rolled around, Stiles was just about over researching Greek currency.

When Stiles looked at the windows across from him, he was surprised to see that it was dark outside. He checked his watch and looked at it in shock, they’d been there working on their projects for almost four hours.

“When did it get so late?” Stiles asked, turning to see who was sitting next to him.

It was Allison.

Allison looked up from the computer, bleary eyed, and yawned, “I didn’t think we’d be here all night. The project seemed a lot easier when Finstock was explaining it.”

Stiles sighed, “Good ol’ Bobby, always underselling everything he assigns to us. Really, it’s our fault because we should know by now not to trust a word that man says unless it’s a quote from a 90’s action movie.”

Allison shuddered, “Don’t remind me. I still have nightmares about his Terminator impression.”

Stiles laughed, because it really was terrible and a little traumatizing when Finstock tried to flex and show off his muscles. Allison was still cringing, and Stiles felt a little bad for all the times he’d thought she could possibly be a psycho killer.

Sure, she could be, but Scott had gotten through to him earlier in the day. Allison could be evil just because her family is evil, but was thinking that any different than a hunter thinking all werewolves were evil just because there were bad ones out there?

Kate and Allison didn’t seem like they could be more different. Kate was all curves and sharp edges, weaponized sexuality and brutal terror. Allison was, well, Stiles didn’t really know how to describe Allison other than the fact that he wasn’t scared she was going to sexually assault him and slit his throat afterwards.

“Earth to Stiles.” Allison waved a hand in front of his face.

“Sorry, I spaced,” Stiles tried for a casual laugh, “anyway, Scott tells me you two got pretty _close_ today.”

Allison’s cheeks instantly turned red and she covered her eyes, “Oh god, I told him not to tell you until later.”

Stiles laughed, “In his defense, I figured it out because he couldn’t stop looking at your lips.”

Allison’s eyes went a little wide and she lifted a hand to her mouth, reverently touching her lips, “I really like him, Stiles.”

“Thank god, cuz he’s obsessed with you. In the least creepy way possible. But still. Obsessed.”

Allison smiled, “Is this the part where you give me the shovel talk?”

Stiles shook his head, “No, but only because I’m pretty sure you could kill me.”

Allison looked confused, and Stiles backpedaled as quickly as he could.

“I mean, uh, you know, shoot me with your bow and arrow because you’re the best archer on the planet.”

Allison’s face settled, and she giggled, “I wouldn’t say I’m the best in the world but thank you. And don’t worry, I don’t plan on breaking Scott’s heart.”

Stiles smiled tightly as she walked away, slumping in his chair when she disappeared around the corner.

Allison might be normal, or at least not psychotic, but the rest of her family was. He couldn’t help but feeling like everything happening had an expiration date on it that he couldn’t see.

Stiles’ phone buzzed in his pocket, her pulled it out and saw a text from Derek.

 

**From America’s Most Wanted: STAY INSIDE THE LIBRARY. DO NOT LEAVE.**

Stiles’ eyes went wide.

 

**To America’s Most Wanted: What’s going on?**

**To America’s Most Wanted: Hello?**

**To America’s Most Wanted: Are you OK?**

**To America’s Most Wanted: DEREK**

Stiles’ hands were shaking as he called Derek, and he nearly dropped his phone when it went straight to Derek’s generic mechanical voicemail message.

Stiles took a deep breath and fought off the panic that was threatening to overwhelm him and scrolled through his contacts until he found Laura’s number and pressed call. He held his phone up to his ear but pulled it away in confusion a few seconds later when it beeped sharply twice. Stiles pulled the phone back and went sheet white when the words _no service_ flashed across the top of his screen.

Now he was allowed to freak out.

He pushed himself away from the computers and shoved his phone in his pocket before walking down the short hallway that led to their reserved tables. Scott and Allison were standing close together and Scott looked up when he heard Stiles coming.

“I was just coming to get you,” Scott said, “the librarian is kicking us out, they’re about to close and apparently we’re the only ones left around.”

“Cool,” Stiles smiled tightly, “can I borrow you for a second?”

Allison shrugged and opened her bag, shoving her books inside while Scott walked over to Stiles.

“What’s up?” Scott whispered, leaning in close and sniffing, “You don’t smell right.”

“Thanks, Scoob,” Stiles tried for humor, but he felt a bit manic when he smiled, “I need to see your phone.”

“What’s going on?”

“Just let me see your phone!” Stiles hissed, a little more forcefully than necessary.

Scott recoiled a step but took his phone out and slowly handed it to Stiles, “You’re freaking me out, man.”

Sure enough, Scott’s phone didn’t have any service either.

That was the last straw, Stiles was about to go into full blown panic mode.

“Neither of our phones have service.” Stiles whispered.

“OK?” Scott was obviously confused, “We’re on the far side of town, I always lose service at School.”

Stiles unlocked his phone and showed Scott the last text Derek had sent him.

“You want to tell me the chances I get this text from Derek, and then we lose phone service?”

Scott’s eyes went wide, “I’m sure it’s fine. Derek is probably just messing with us. Maybe it’s a test or something.”

Stiles had thought of that for a brief second, but even Derek wasn’t that fucked up.

“I’m like, barely holding on to the ledge here, dude. I need you to use your wolfy senses to tell me that everything is fine and I’m not about to have the mother of all panic attacks in an abandoned library in the middle of nowhere.”

Scott closed his eyes and turned his head to the side, grimacing a few seconds later, “All I can hear is your heart going crazy, Stiles. I’m really not good at this whole hearing thing, it’s hard to pick everything apart.”

Stiles took a dep breath, “OK. I’m going to walk away, like, far away, and you’re going to listen to stuff and come tell me that everything is fine and I’m just a paranoid freak.”

Scott nodded, “That might work.”

Stiles clenched his fists and walked away from Scott, back to the group who were still gathering their things around the table.

“Stiles?” Lydia was the first to see him, “What’s wrong?”

“What?” Stiles tried to smile, “Nothing, everything is totally fi-”

The lights went out.

Erica screamed, surprised at the sudden change.

“Really, Jackson?” Lydia sighed, “Your parents couldn’t donate enough for competent electricity?”

The sound of glass breaking echoed through the building, followed by a blood curdling scream. Stiles felt his hairs stand on end, his skin going rough with goosebumps just as Scott came flying around the corner. He was running faster than normal, but Stiles couldn’t really focus on anything other than the next scream that came and chilled him to his core.

“We have to go. Now.” Scott said, skidding to a stop in front of Stiles, “It’s here. I can smell it.”

Stiles mouth went dry, his voice coming out rough and scratchy, “The Rougarou?”

Stiles looked over his shoulder at the group of his friends and Jackson. Erica was shaking, visible to Stiles even in the darkened room. Jackson was trying to play it cool, but Stiles could see the fear in his eyes. Allison was glaring at her phone, her expression cloudy. Stiles figured she must have just realized they had no cell service, which at least meant that she couldn’t call Kate or anyone else.

Lydia though, Lydia was pale white, her red lips parted ever so slightly. She looked directly at Stiles, and Stiles could already hear what she was going to say before she spoke. Lydia took two steps towards him, wrapped her cold hands around his wrist, and squeezed tightly.

“We need to leave.” Lydia’s voice was barely above a whisper, “I can feel it.”

“What?” Stiles needed to hear her say it.

“Death.”

“Fuck this shit,” Jackson growled, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder, “I’m getting the hell out of here.”

“Jackson!” Allison’s tone had gone commanding, “We need to stay together, we don’t know what’s going on.”

“As much as I’d hate spending anymore time with you, Allison is right.” Stiles said, “Bad shit always happens when people split up.”

“We’re not in a horror movie, Stilinski.” Jackson sneered.

“Then why do you look like you’re about to piss your pants?” Stiles glared at him.

Jackson lunged forward, grabbing for Stiles throat, but Allison was quicker. She swept his feet out from under him, catching Jackson before his head hit the ground and pulling him up with one arm by the collar of his shirt.

And just like that, Allison was fucking terrifying again.

“Stiles is right.” Allison said, removing her hand from Jackson, “Lets just stay together. We’re not that far from the entrance and it’s probably just a stupid power outage.”

“And the librarian screaming bloody murder?” Erica asked, her arms wrapped around herself.

“She’s probably just freaked out,” Scott offered, “she probably just dropped something and got scared.”

They grabbed their things and walked down the hallway that lead to the central part of the library in a tight cluster. It was starting to get hotter inside, Stiles could feel his brow growing damper as a result of the loss of A/C in the outage.

Scott stopped moving just before they got to the door that led to the reception area. Stiles knew that couldn’t be a good sign. No one else seemed to notice though, and Jackson dashed forward, opening the door and freezing in the doorway.

Erica was the first person to step up behind him and she let out an ear piercing scream. Scott doubled over, clutching at his ears as the scream bounced off the walls of the narrow hallway. Stiles ran forward towards Erica to pull her away from whatever he was seeing, and he froze when he caught sight of what lay just in front of the doorway.

The librarian was in a pool of blood, her body torn to pieces. Stiles was pretty sure he could see some of her intestines, and he knew instantly that what he was looking at would be the main feature of all his upcoming nightmares.

“What the fuck is that?” Jackson’s shaky voice asked as he slowly pointed forward.

Stiles didn’t want to look, because if he looked then it would be real. But he had to, and sure enough, a few feet away from them stood the Rougarou. It towered over them, it’s long and lean body hunched forward. Its claws were dragging against the ground, stained red with the librarian’s blood.

“No, no, no, no.” Stiles mumbled to himself.

Scott came up behind him, pressing a hand to the small of his back. The touch alone comforted Stiles, but then something occurred to him.

“Scott, if it’s here…then where is Derek?”

Stiles’ chest wanted to cave in. He’d seen how strong the Rougarou was, he’d seen how it had been a struggle for Derek and Laura to even get the upper hand with it. Could Derek really have taken the thing by himself? If so, then where the fuck was he?

“Don’t freak out,” Stiles whispered, “we don’t know anything for sure and freaking out won’t help us right now.”

“When did you become the rational one?” Stiles’ voice cracked.

“What the _fuck_ is that?” Jackson hissed again.

“Don’t move.” Allison commanded, “Seriously. Just listen to me. Do. Not. Move.”

Erica was frozen in place, and Lydia just stared vacantly ahead. Stiles wondered if Lydia even realized what was happening, or if her mind was wherever the hell it went when she had an episode.

“Fuck that.” Jackson shook his head, “I’m not standing here and waiting for that thing to kill me.”

Stiles always knew Jackson was an idiot, but at least he’d finally had undisputable proof even if he died a few seconds later.

Jackson dashed forward, trying to make it to the front door of the library. Jackson obviously had no idea how fast the Rougarou could move and it was in front of him before Jackson even made it halfway to the door. Jackson skidded to a stop, slipping on the blood of the librarian. When he finally reoriented himself, the Rougarou stalked over to him, it’s footsteps echoing through the room and up to the vaulted ceilings. The Rougarou reeled its hand back, just as Allison screamed for Jackson to move, and backhanded him.

Jackson let out a sickening sound as the Rougarou struck him and Stiles watched in horror as Jackson’s body flew through the air for a few seconds before hitting the floor. But Jackson’s body didn’t stop when he hit the ground, the momentum carried him across the floor and into a shelving unit that buckled when he hit it. The shelves collapsed on top of Jackson, covering him with dozens upon dozens of books.

The Rougarou tracked Jackson’s body as it moved, and Stiles swore he saw the corner of its lip curl up into a smile. Its head slowly turned until it was looking directly at them, its lips curled back again, this time showing a set of sharp, blindingly white teeth.

“Run!” Allison screamed, slamming the door and pulling the closest bookshelf down in front of it.

The four of them turned, Stiles grabbing Lydia by the arm and pulling her along. They were halfway down the hall when they heard the door behind them break, wood splintering just before the Rougarou’s scream rang out behind them.

“What do we do?” Erica yelled, “Fuck. We’re going to die.”

“We’re not going to die.” Allison’s voice was cold as steel.

“Tell that to Jackson!” Erica screeched.

“Jackson isn’t dead.” Scott said, “It could have killed him, but it didn’t. It didn’t use its claws.”

Allison slammed the double doors behind them, grabbing a decorative iron bar off the wall and shoving it between the handles.

“Someone help me move this shelf in front of the door.”

Scott volunteered, stepping next to Allison and hopefully using human strength to help her push the large shelf in front of the door.

“That won’t stop it for long, we need to figure out how to get out of here.”

“We can go upstairs and try to make it to the other side from there.” Erica offered.

Stiles shook his head, “There’s no easy way down to the entrance from there. We’d have to make it across that skybridge, into the left side of the library, and then circle back around to the middle.”

“This place is fucking insane,” Erica hissed, “Who designed it like this?”

“I can distract it while the rest of you make a break for it.” Allison said, hiking her foot up onto a nearby chair.

Allison felt around the edge of her boot for a second before pulling a long, silver dagger out of it. Score one for Stiles, he totally knew Allison kept weapons in those boots.

“Jesus, do you always carry that around with you?” Erica gaped as Allison twisted the knife around in her hands.

Allison didn’t reply. She sat her bag on the table, unzipped it, and pulled out what looked like a fucking pistol.

“Holy fuck.” Stiles’ eyes went wide.

She sat the gun on the table before pulling out something that looked like a tiny bow. Allison held the bow in one hand, the pistol in the other, and then combined them together to create a small crossbow. She pulled put what looked like a pencil case, but when she unzipped it she pulled out a Velcro strip with small arrows attached to it. Allison fastened the strip around her wrist like a bracelet, pulled an arrow out of it, and loaded it into the crossbow.

Erica’s eyes were wide as saucers, “Who the hell are you?”

Allison took a deep breath and tested her aim with the crossbow, “You’re just going to have to trust me. I won’t let anything happen to any of you. I can’t really answer any questions you have, but I’m going to do my best to make sure we all walk out of here alive.”

“You know what that thing is?” Erica asked.

Allison nodded.

“It’s not human.”

“No.” Allison shook her head.

“Holy fuck,” Erica ran a hand through her hair and turned to Stiles, “Why aren’t you more freaked out? That thing barely even looked like it surprised you.”

That got Allison’s attention, she looked at Stiles quizzically.

Scott came to his rescue, “He’s in shock.”

“If Stiles in in shock, then what the hell is wrong with Lydia?”

Lydia hadn’t moved from the spot Stiles pulled her too, she just stared ahead vacantly and blinked every so often.

“Lydia?” Allison’s voice was soft as she stood in front of her, “Lydia, I need you to listen to me. We’re going to get out of here, but we have to run, and I need you to be able to do that.”

Lydia didn’t say anything, didn’t even move.

Allison sighed, “I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but someone needs to make sure she can get out of here.”

“I’ve got her.” Stiles said instantly.

“Good.”

“It’s on the other side of the door.” Scott said, “Listen.”

The group fell quiet. The library was deathly silent, the only sound came from the other side of the barricaded door. Stiles could hear the slow breath of the Rougarou as it walked back and forth.

“It’s taunting us.” Stiles said.

Allison nodded.

“Can you really take this thing?” Stiles asked.

Allison looked at him, “I think.”

 Stiles had to trust her. But he had his doubts, if an Alpha and Beta wolf couldn’t take the Rougarou down, then what chance did a single hunter have?

“I don’t hear anything anymore.” Scott whispered, “It’s gone.”

It wasn’t that simple. Because of course not.

A few seconds later, the windows above them shattered. Glass rained down from above and the Rougarou crawled through the window, standing at the top of the stairs, and let out a bone rattling roar.

Stiles looked back to their only way out of the room now, the door that they’d just barred and blocked shut.

“We did exactly what it wanted.” Stiles shook his head.

Allison ran forward, grabbing her crossbow and sliding over the top of a table to get closer to the Rougarou. She held the crossbow up, lined up her shot, and pulled the trigger. The arrow moved through the air faster than Stiles’ eyes could track it, but he saw the second it hit the Rougarou in the chest.

The Rougarou took a step back, looked down at the arrow sticking out of its chest, and ripped it out. It tossed the arrow down the stairs before locking its eyes on Allison. Allison ran to the side, pulling another arrow from her wrist and loading it into the gun before firing it.

The Rougarou dodged that one, but its eyes were still firmly locked on Allison.

“She’s drawing its attention.” Stiles said, “We’ve got to get ready to move when it stops blocking out way out.”

“We can’t just leave her!” Scott cried, “She can’t take the Rougarou on her own!”

“The _whothewhat_?” Erica’s eyes narrowed, “You do know what that thing is!”

Stiles sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face, “Scott, I need your help to get Erica and Lydia out of here. We’ll come back for Allison, I promise.”

Stiles looked back at Allison. She fired another shot and hit the Rougarou in the leg.

That did it, the Rougarou leapt from the stairs, crashing to the ground next to the rows of computers and swiping its claws through them. It picked up a monitor and tossed it at Allison, she just barely managed to dodge it by sliding under a table and flipping it over to shield herself.

The Rougarou ran forward, jumping over the table and landing in front of Allison. Allison rolled to the side, kicked the Rougarou in the knee, and pulled out her knife. She slashed at its chest, the Rougarou howled in pain while Allison retreated.

Watching Allison fight was different than watching Derek and Laura. Derek was a brawler by nature, his size and muscles made it easier for him to just charge into a fight and start throwing punches. Laura was the faster, lighter version of that, more focused on landing kicks and swipes with her claws.

But Allison? Allison was tactical precision at its best. She was fast, efficient, and almost clinical in the way that she fought. It was like watching a heart surgeon operate, only she was a teenage girl fighting a monster instead.

“Let’s go.” Stiles grabbed Lydia by the arm and pulled her towards the stairs. Erica followed behind them, with Scott taking up the spot in the back.

 

X

 

Allison knew she could do this. It’s what she’d been training for. She still wasn’t entirely sure what she was fighting, it was a wolf of some kind, but it moved differently than she’d ever seen or been taught. She’d never seen a shift like that, never heard of a full shift werewolf that walked on it’s hind legs or had eyes as black as coal.

But in the end, it was still a monster and she was still a hunter. She had people to protect. Her friends. Scott.

She could do it.

Allison circled the wolf, her crossbow in one hand and her dagger in the other and watched out of the corner of her eye as the rest of her friends made up upstairs and disappeared into the other section of the library. She smiled, and just as the wolf was about to look their way, she fired another arrow into its flank.

The tips of the arrows were coated in wolfsbane, but they weren’t doing a thing to slow the wolf down. All the arrows seemed to do was piss it off, which Allison figured worked out in her favor since she was the distraction.

She hadn’t worked out a plan for her own escape, a fact that her dad would call reckless. If she kept backing herself towards the stairs she might be able to make it to the upper area and she’d at least stand a chance running for her life, especially if she weakened the wolf enough to slow it down.

The wolf lunged, swiping a large claw at Allison’s neck. She barely dodged it, twisting to the side with just enough time to spare before having her throat slit.

She’d only fought a wolf once before this, a rogue Omega that made its way into Beacon Hills last year in a frenzied mania. She’d seen the Omega attack a girl in the preserve, watched as it tried to rip her to pieces as it was overcome with bloodlust.

Her dad sent her after it, told her that this was her final test. If Allison couldn’t take down an Omega on her own, then she could never become the Argent Matriarch.

Allison took it out with her bow, right before the Omega drove its claws into the girl and tore her apart.

Allison really fucking wished she had her bow with her, but she was glad for her dad’s paranoia and the fact that he’d slipped the miniature crossbow in her bag without her realizing.

She could tell the wolf was gearing up for another attack, watched the way it dropped into a fighting stance and led with its left claw before swiping with its right.

Allison had always been taught that the best tactic in a fight was surprise, you do the thing your opponent least expects, and it throws them off just enough for you to land a few blows. So Allison ran towards the wolf as it swiped at her. She could tell she surprised it, the thing was awfully expressive for a giant monster covered in fur, and she took advantage of it.

She dropped to her knees, sliding across the slick floor of the library and under the wolf. She aimed the crossbow upwards, firing when she passed under its chest. The wolf howled when the arrow hit, and she continued her slide. Allison flipped the blade in her hand as she slid between the legs of the wolf, twisting at the last moment and swiping the blade across the back of its knee.

The wolf screeched, falling to one leg and rolling on its side. It wasn’t quite hamstringed, but Allison knew it wouldn’t be able to move as fast now. She rolled to her side, pushing herself up and running past the wolf and towards the stairs. She fired another shot at it for good measure when she was halfway up the stairs, counting her remaining arrows as she ran.

She had five left.

There was no sign of anyone else by the time she made it to the skybridge of the lobby. It was a straight shot to the other side of the room, and from there she only had to go down another flight of stairs and she could be outside. She hoped that the others had already made it out, she had no doubt that Stiles would call his father, and her dad monitored police transmissions constantly, the second he heard about something happening at the library she knew he’d be there with an army in less than ten minutes.

Allison really thought she’d make it, until something slammed into her back.

Allison screamed as something shattered against her back, knocking her forward and sending her towards the ground. She hit her head on the railing on the way down, and she already felt the blood begin to run down her face.

Head wounds always bled like a bitch.

Allison rolled onto her back and tried to recover. She was vaguely aware of the shattered chair a few feet away from her and the wolf standing at the other end of the bridge.

“You threw a _chair_ at me?” Allison asked out loud, astonished.

Why the hell would it do that when it could have just as easily gotten behind her and killed her?

Allison scrambled for her crossbow, cringing when she saw it laying on the floor some thirty feet below her.

“Fuck.”

She still had her dagger though, and she’d rather have that than nothing. She took a few steps backwards, slowly trying to regain her composure as she stopped seeing stars. For every step she took, the wolf took two. She knew it was only a matter of time before it charged her. She looked over the edge of the bridge, wondering if she could make the jump. She figured she probably couldn’t without breaking a leg, or both. She flipped the blade in her hand and held it at the ready.

“Bring it.”

The wolf charged. Allison braced herself, trying for a repeat of her last maneuver. The wolf was ready though, it jumped just as Allison dropped to her knees, it landed behind her, and she only had enough time to bring an arm up to protect her head as it hit her with the back of its hand.

Allison screamed, it hurt a hundred times worse than the chair. It hurt worse than any injury she’d ever gotten while training. She felt like someone had picked up a small U-Hall and thrown it at her. She crashed into the side of the archway, her vision going blurry as she watched the wolf stalk towards her.

She wasn’t scared, really. She knew it was part of the job. She’d seen Buffy, always identified with the part where the young girl kicks monster ass while knowing she’s fated to die horribly one day because of it. She just hoped that the rest of her friends make it out, that Scott made it out.

She felt bad for Scott. They’d just kissed, decided to go on a first date, and now Allision was about to die. For the rest of Scott’s life, Allison would be remembered as the girl he kissed and then died a few hours later.

Allison’s entire body hurt, but she wasn’t going down without a fight. She reached for the dagger and held it in front of her, spitting the blood out of her mouth.

And then, then Allison heard footsteps behind her. Someone was running, someone was running really fucking fast. Faster than normal.

She watched, unable to move, as someone stepped in front of her. A small, skinny, nothing of a boy in shorts and a maroon shirt.

“Scott?” Allison whispered.

“It’s OK, Allison.” Scott said, but his voice sounded weird. It was like he was slurring. Or maybe that was just Allison’s brain.

The wolf snarled, and then…another wolf snarled back at it.

Then Allison noticed Scott’s hands. Except, they weren’t hands. Scott’s _claws_.

“Scott.”

Scott turned and looked at her. Scott, with his pointed ears. Scott, with his sideburns. Scott, with his fangs. Scott, with his golden eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Scott looked so sad, so broken. “I’m not going to let it hurt you anymore.”

The wolf lunged at Scott, and Scott’s roar filled the entire building before he ran towards it.

Scott McCall was a werewolf.

 

X

 

They were halfway to the school when Scott turned and ran back towards the library.

Stiles didn’t have a chance to stop Scott once he heard Allison’s scream. Stiles really couldn’t blame him though, because you ran after the people you cared about. Even if you couldn’t do anything to protect them, you still had to try.

“Erica, take Lydia to the cars and get the fuck out of here.” Stiles tossed her the keys to his Jeep.

“Where are you going?” Erica’s voice was full of panic, “I don’t even know how to drive!”

“I can’t let Scott go back there alone.”

“Scott is…Scott is one of those things!” Erica yelled, “I saw his face! I saw the way you didn’t react to him! You knew!”

“Erica, calm down.” Stiles said slowly.

“Don’t!” Erica yelled, “Do not tell me to calm down when you’re fucking lying to me and I’ve seen a dead body and a giant fucking monster in the span of half an hour!”

“It’s complicated!” Stiles yelled back, fingers clawing at his scalp, “And it’s fucking dangerous!”

Erica deflated, pulling her arms tightly around her body. Lydia, still basically catatonic, stood off to the side, blinking occasionally but saying nothing.

“I’m so fucking scared right now.” Erica whispered.

“I know.” Stiles impulsively grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, “But I need you to take care of Lydia, and I need to go make sure my best friend isn’t dead.”

Stiles was trying hard to ignore the sounds coming from the library, the crashing and the screaming. He tried to ignore the screaming voice in his head telling him that Derek’s dead body was probably only a few feet away too, conveniently hidden behind a tree or in some bushes.

“Turn the keys, put it in drive, and get onto the road. It’s just a straight patch, keep the wheel straight and you can’t go wrong.”

“I’ll call the police, have them send someone.”

“No!” Stiles shook his head, “They’ll send my dad, and it’s too dangerous for him to be here.”

“Jesus, Stiles. We’re just teenagers.”

Stiles silently put Lydia’s hand in Erica’s.

“Go.”

“I hate you so much right now.” Erica said, but she turned and pulled Lydia along after her.

Stiles watched until they were safely across the street, and then he turned on his heel and ran back towards the library.

“Derek!” Stiles yelled as he ran, “I know you’re not dead, because you’re Derek fucking Hale and you’ve been through too much to be dead outside some fucking library. But I think I might be dead soon, so I really need you to come make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Stiles stopped to catch his breath just outside of the library before stepping over the broken glass and into the building.

The reception area was empty, but Stiles made note of the broken banister of the sky bridge. He saw Allison’s crossbow on the ground and he grabbed it for lack of a better weapon. His dad had always said a gun in an untrained hand is one of the most dangerous things, but his dad had never faced a Rougarou and Stiles would rather have a crossbow than nothing.

Jackson was still across the room, unconscious and covered in books. There was no sign of Allison, Scott, or the Rougarou. There was no sound of fighting, nothing to make it seem like there was even anyone else in the building.

Until Scott’s screaming body fell in front of him.

Stiles yelped and jumped backwards as Scott pushed himself to his feet. He was bloody, covered in cuts and bruises that Stiles could already see healing on their own.

“Stiles, you were supposed to run!” Scott growled between fangs.

“As if I was going to leave you here!”

Scott didn’t reply, instead he shoved Stiles out of the way just as the Rougarou came crashing down from above.

Scott barreled into the Rougarou, swiping at it and yelping when it threw him off. It tackled into Scott, pouncing on top of him and pinning him down with a claw over his throat.

Fuck. Scott was about to die.

Stiles held the crossbow up, his hand trembling, and aimed at the Rougarou. He wasn’t sure he could actually hit it, he was far away, and he didn’t know how the trajectory of the arrows worked. He could just as easily hit Scott.

“Don’t!” Allison yelled, limping out from the left side of the room, “The arrows…”

Stiles looked down at the crossbow and finally noticed how the tips of the arrow gleamed blue under the right light.

“Wolfsbane?” Stiles’ eyes went wide as he looked at Allison, “You’ve been hitting this thing with wolfsbane the entire time and it’s done nothing?”

Allison frowned, “You know too.”

It wasn’t a question.

Scott’s scream startled both of them, and Stiles looked over to see the Rougarou pressing a single claw into Scott’s shoulder.

He had to do something, and Allison didn’t look like she was in any shape to fight. He noticed a broken chair leg to his left, a few nails sticking out of the part where it splintered away from the seat. Stiles tossed the crossbow to the side and picked up the leg, weighing it in his hands and shrugging.

If it was good enough for The Bride in Kill Bill, Vol. 1, then it was good enough for Stiles.

Stiles ran forward, drawing back the chair leg and swinging it when he got close enough. The chair leg his the Rougarou in the side of the face, embedding itself in its cheek.

Unlike Kill Bill, the Rougarou was not a teenage Japanese assassin named GoGo who could be killed by something as easy as a nail to the head.

The Rougarou released Scott and slowly turned its head to face Stiles. Their eyes locked, and the Rougarou curled its lip to reveal its, now bloody, fangs. Kicking Scott’s body off to the side, the Rougarou stalked slowly towards Stiles.

Allison was going for the crossbow, but there’s no way she would get to it in time. Stiles was pretty sure he was about to die.

He was about to die, and Derek had no idea that Stiles was kinda falling in love with him. He was about to die, and all he’d done to his dad for the last couple months was lie to him.

He was about to die.

Until he wasn’t.

In what seemed like slow motion, the Rougarou drew its arm back, ready to swipe at Stiles. It lunged forward, claw close enough for Stiles to feel the gust of air it produced as it moved. And then someone stepped in front of Stiles, catching the Rougarou’s claw just before it made contact and throwing it across the room.

Stiles would know the back of the man standing in front of him anywhere.

“Derek.” Stiles said softly, “You’re not dead.”

Derek was covered in blood, his clothes were torn to pieces, and Stiles noticed the beginning of a tattoo peaking out though one of the holes in Derek’s shirt. Stiles launched himself at Derek, wrapping his arms around Derek’s midsection and squeezing tightly as his face pressed into Derek’s back.

Derek laughed softly, the vibration if it going straight through Stiles’ body and into his bones.

“I heard you.”

“Derek?” Scott’s voice was small, hurt, and broken.

“Dammit, Scott.” Derek said, walking over to Scott and looping an arm around him as he tried to stand.

“Couldn’t let it kill Allison,” Scott coughed, “she saved us.”

Derek turned his head slowly, locking eyes with Allison from across the room. Neither of them said anything, there was just an intense kind of staring contest going on for a few more seconds until Derek spoke.

“Has anyone called Laura?”

Stiles shook his head, “We lost service right before it attacked, the last thing I got was your text.”

“It broke my phone.” Derek said, “We need to call her, she should be getting back soon. We’re going to need her help.”

  
“I think we did pretty well on our own, considering…” Allison trailed off.

“You’re half dead, Scott would be dead, and Stiles tried to take down a Rougarou with a chair leg.” Derek glared at her.

“A Rougarou?” Allison asked, “I’ve never heard of that before.”

“Welcome to the club.” Stiles muttered.

Allison’s eyes went wide with realization, “It was you two…you were the other ones in the preserve that night. The eyes I saw…they were Scott’s. I shot at both of you!”

“ _You_ were the one who hit me with an arrow?” Stiles cried, “What the actual fuck, Allison?”

Allison’s hand flew up to her mouth, “I hit you? God…I…I didn’t know it was the two of you.”

“And if you did know? Would it have changed anything?” Derek glared at her again, “Would it really have mattered if you knew it was Scott you were shooting at?”

“Of course it would!” Allison yelled, “Scott’s not…Scott wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“And what about me?” Derek asked, his eyes turning electric blue.

Allison’s grip on her dagger tightened, “I know what those eyes mean, do they?”

Derek’s nostrils flared as he shifted. Stiles watched him, the way his body grew more tense. What the hell did Allison mean by that?

“Can we not fight each other until we’re sure we’re not going to die here?” Stiles asked, “Also, can you not tell your scary dad and your psycho aunt about Scott and me?”

“Psycho aunt?” Allison asked, her face twisting, “What the hell do you mean?”

Stiles didn’t have a chance to reply, because the Rougarou was back in the fray. It lunged from the shadows, clawing Derek across the chest and sending him tumbling towards the ground. Allison grabbed for the crossbow, loading it again and firing off a shot at the Rougarou.

“If you hit Derek with that thing…” Stiles warned her.

Allison looked at him, her face a blank mask, “I won’t.”

“Good, I’d really like to go at least a week without having to save him from wolfsbane poisoning again.”

“Again?”

Scott jumped on the Rougarou’s back, frantically clawing at its shoulder blades while Derek dove towards its middle, punching it in the stomach once before digging his claws into its chest. The Rougarou howled in pain, shaking Scott off its back, picking him up, and then using him as a werewolf baseball bat. It grabbed Scott by the legs and swung his body into Derek, sending Derek flying into the wall and then letting go of Scott.

The Rougarou turned, locking its eyes onto Stiles and Allison. Allison grabbed Stiles’ arm and pulled him to the side, pulling him behind the reception desk. Allison popped up from behind the desk, firing off another arrow that lodged itself in the Rougarou’s throat.

“Lydia!” Erica’s frantic voice came from behind them, “Lydia! Stop!”

Stiles and Allison turned at the same time to see Lydia stepping over the broken glass and into the library. Erica was right behind her, trying to pull her back outside but Lydia would just shake her off and keep walking.

“What is she doing?” Allison hissed, “Lydia!”

The Rougarou ripped the arrow out of its throat, a spray of blood following after it as it ran around the side of the room and set its sights on Lydia. Allison fired another arrow at it, hitting it in the side, but it didn’t slow the Rougarou down. She sat the crossbow on the desk and pulled out her dagger, running towards the Rougarou.

Stiles took advantage of the moment to run towards Derek and Scott. Derek was just pushing himself up from the ground, and Scott was unconscious, but he was still breathing. Stiles helped Derek up from the ground just as Allison screamed, staggering backwards after the Rougarou backhanded her again.

Lydia was right in the path of the Rougarou, it seemed like she was the only thing it cared about. Erica ran inside the library, giving up on trying to pull Lydia away, and stumbled to the ground near Allison.

Lydia stood completely still, and as the Rougarou got closer, she opened her mouth and screamed.

The sound was nothing like Stiles had ever heard before. The entire room seemed to vibrate, glass display cases shattering as Lydia’s voice rose higher and higher. Derek fell to the ground, pawing at his ears as he tried to block out the sound.

The tile floor in front of Lydia cracked, pieces of it splintering in the direction she screamed. The Rougarou was right in the path of Lydia’s scream and it went flying backwards, crashing into a display case and screaming as the glass embedded itself into the Rougarou’s skin.

It was like it had been hit by a freight train. Stiles had never seen anything like it, even during the fight with Laura.

Lydia kept screaming, stepping forward towards the Rougarou. It rolled back and forth, howling in pain as the wall behind it splintered and caved in under Lydia’s scream.

“Holy shit.” Stiles whispered.

Apparently, Lydia was now the fucking Black Canary.

Abruptly, Lydia’s voice stopped, and the room quieted. Lydia fell to her knees, gasping for air as she hit the ground. The Rougarou was still, not moving at all.

“We have to get out of here.” Derek said, “I can hear the sirens.”

“Shit.” Stiles hissed, “Get Jackson outside, there’s no way I can carry him.”

Derek nodded and retrieved Jackson’s still unconscious body from the floor a few feet away and ran outside with him. Stiles helped Scott up as he regained consciousness, and Erica and Allison both wrapped an arm around Lydia and led her outside.  

They all stumbled outside, only making it a few more steps before fatigue took over. Stiles could see the flashing lights down the road and he was already trying to figure out a lie to tell his dad. Derek laid Jackson’s body down on the grass and then turned to Stiles.

“Are you OK?”

“I’m fine,” Stiles waved him off, “you need to get out of here though. I can’t explain to my dad why you’re here.”

“And how are you going to explain everything inside?” Derek looked panicked.

“We didn’t see anything.” Allison said, “That’s what we’re going with. The power went out, we heard screaming, and by the time we got to the front of the library it was destroyed and the Liberian was dead.”

“And how do we explain the fucking monster inside?” Erica’s voice trembled.

Derek looked over his shoulder, turning his head to the side, “It’s gone. I don’t hear or smell it anymore.”

“Fuck.” Stiles hissed, “We’ll deal with that later. You need to get out of here before my dad shows up. One of the doors in there is barricaded from the inside, can you fix it? We wouldn’t be able to explain that.”

Derek looked conflicted, but Stiles stared him down until he nodded and gripped Stiles’ shoulder, squeezing and letting his hand linger for a few minutes before he turned and ran back into the library. He trusted that the Rougarou wasn’t around and that Derek would be able to disappear quickly afterwards.

“Everyone agrees to the same story?” Stiles asked, looking around the group.

“I can’t fucking believe this.” Erica cried, “What the fuck is happening?”

“I’ll explain everything that I can,” Stiles said, “I promise. But not now.”

“Fine.” Erica ran a hand through her hair, “I didn’t see anything.”

“What about Lydia and Jackson?” Scott asked, his wounds already healed.

Lydia finally spoke, her voice almost completely gone, “I didn’t see anything.”

“And what do we say when they ask about Allison’s injuries? What the fuck do we say about Jackson?” Erica was growing more and more panicked.

Lydia answered her, “Jackson freaked out when he saw the librarian dead, he ran, slipped in her blood, and hit his head. If he even remembers anything about the monster when he wakes up no one will believe him, it’ll be the word of the five of us versus the word of someone with a head injury.”

“Lydia is right,” Allison said, “if I’ve learned anything, it’s that people would rather believe the worst lie than the truth that they can’t wrap their head around. No one would believe Jackson if he said he saw what attacked us. I can cover up most of my injuries, just say I slipped and fell in broken glass for the cuts on my legs.”

“And what about the people who do know what actually happened here?” Stiles asked Allison, “Are you going to tell your parents?”

Allison’s fists clenched, “I have to. They already know that thing is out there killing people all over town.”

“And what about Scott?” Stiles challenged, “Are you going to tell them about him? Your aunt already attacked Derek and Laura for no reason last week, are you going to send her after Scott next?”

“Stiles!” Scott hissed, “This is not the time for this conversation!”

“When is the time for it then?” Stiles all but yelled.

“Kate was attacked by that thing last weekend, she was defending herself because she thought it was the Alpha that attacked her.”

“The Alpha has a name, it’s Laura Hale.”

“I know that!” Allison raked a hand through her hair, “I…I won’t tell my dad about Scott. At least not yet. But I want to know _everything_.”

Stiles sighed and slumped forward, the adrenaline rush finally subsiding and leaving him feeling worn out and empty. He didn’t have any fight left in him, he simply flapped a hand in Allison’s direction and hoped she took it for a yes.

“You’re not telling him about Lydia either.”

Allison looked between Stiles and Lydia before nodding, “To be honest, I don’t even know what I’d tell him about Lydia.”

“Please don’t talk about me like I’m not sitting right here.” Lydia’s horse voice still managed to carry a displeased tone.

“Sorry.” Allison and Stiles replied at the same time.

“This is so fucked up.” Erica sighed, slumping back against the bench behind her, “You’ve all got one hell of a story to tell me.”

Stiles nodded and laid back onto the grass, closing his eyes and trying to forget everything that had just happened as what sounded like the entire Beacon Hills Sheriff Department pulled into the parking lot of the library.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow so HEY we're finally here lmao the chapter i've been waiting to write since i first thought of this fic. i hope you enjoyed my completely unrealistic public library that i created for the singular purpose of an extended action scene and because i wanted to do Night School but not in the actual school! 
> 
> also, hey! lydia! she's going to have a more active role now lmao i'm so stoked because the whole banshee thing was woefully underused when it came to actual powers and i'm very inspired by black canary because shes one of the best comic characters ever! 
> 
> fun fact this chapter was also going to originally be the one that introduced allison as a hunter with stiles being like "oh shiiiiit" and there was going to be a longer "is she or isn't she one yet" leading up to it but i threw those plans out a long time ago 
> 
> also, yoga. because sexual tension. 
> 
> sorry im just really excited about this chapter lmao


	24. Two Truths and a Lie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight warning for an in-depth description of a panic attack at the end of the chapter if you need to skip it it starts with "He ran to the bathroom," and ends with ""You're here." Stiles said"

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Four

Two Truths and a Lie

 

Sheriff Noah Stilinski had seen a lot of things in his years in law enforcement, terrible things that no one should ever have to see. Beacon Hills was a small town, sure, but that didn’t mean that things never went wrong. He may not have experienced things that a big city officer would have, but he’d seen enough to know how messed up the world could be.

Even with all that behind himself, nothing could have ever prepared him for seeing his son sitting on the grass outside of the public library, glassy eyed and numb, while he was surrounded by a group of other teenagers.

Noah would hesitate to call them Stiles’ friends, if only because he knew the only friend Stiles ever talked about was Scott. Scott was the only friend of Stiles’ that Noah had ever met, and, while it often kept him up late at night worrying about how he’d failed his son, he was fairly sure that Scott was his _only_ friend.

Still, Stiles sat on the ground, Scott’s head nuzzled into his right shoulder while Allison Argent was sitting with her hand on Scott’s leg. Lydia Martin drooped next to Stiles with most of her weight resting on Stiles’ left side. Erica Reyes, who Noah vividly remembered from the nasty business at the school last year, sat at Stiles’ feet. Noah knew Stiles was going to have a lot of things to explain when this was all over, and the reason behind Lydia Martin being pressed against his side was going to be high on that list.

The reason for Lydia’s close personal contact dropped about fifteen thousand places when Noah realized that Jackson Whittemore was laying in the grass behind them, bleeding and unconscious.

“Paramedics!” Noah shouted, “We’ve got at least one kid unconscious.”

It was then that Noah swept over the other kids once again. He could already see bruises forming on Stiles’ arm, Allison’s legs were cut to pieces, and Scott’s shirt was torn in a few places, but he didn’t seem to have any visible injuries.

Lydia and Erica, though both looked like they were about to vomit, seemed to be free of any injuries.

Noah dropped to his knees, pulling Stiles towards him and into a tight hug. Scott graciously moved backwards, while Lydia jumped as if she hadn’t been aware of Noah’s approach.

Noah wordlessly released Stiles and grabbed for Scott, pulling him into a quick, but equally as firm, hug. Noah viewed Scott as something like another kid, the same what that he knew Melissa viewed Stiles as another son. He was just as relieved to see both of them alive, though he didn’t know how well they were.

Noah ignored the footsteps of his deputies as they rushed past him and into the library. Distantly, Noah was aware of the reason they were called to the scene in the first place, but all that mattered was Stiles and the rest of the kids.

Noah had been close to packing it in for the night, ready to head home and relax for a few hours after a long day of running his head into immovable objects while trying to get something done on any of the fucked up cases that had crossed his desk in the last few weeks, when he’d heard the call come in.

Someone, a man, had called 911 to report the sounds of screaming coming from the library. Noah was about to pass it off to another deputy until he remembered that Stiles told him earlier in the day that he would be working on a class project at the library with a group of kids from his school.

Noah tried not to panic, it was entirely possible that Stiles was already home by then, so he called Stiles’ phone.  When it went straight to voicemail, Noah gave himself full license to panic. Stiles never let his phone die, his was almost obsessive in that fact that he never let it fall below 25%.

Noah rounded up every deputy he could spare, all of them willing to be pulled out when Noah told them that Stiles could be at the library. He’d rather be embarrassed and seen as an overprotective father by pulling up to the library with a squadron for a simple prank, than to be overly cautious and not show up with enough help if his son was truly in trouble.

He leaned back on his legs, looking over the group of kids again just as the paramedics rolled over a stretcher and dropped down next to Jackson.

“How long has he been unconscious?” One of them asked.

Lydia and Stiles looked at each other, as if they were communicating silently, and Lydia spoke a moment later.

“Twenty minutes?” Lydia said, though Noah had to strain to hear her because her voice was almost completely gone, “Maybe half an hour?”

Noah raked a hand down his face, “Jesus, kids. What the hell happened?”

Stiles squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and when he opened them Noah felt sick to his stomach. It was as if Stiles had erased all the pain and fear from his eyes and replaced it with a fake mask of neutrality.

“Jackson tripped and fell when we were running,” Stiles said, his voice light, “He hit his head on the ground, Scott and I carried him out but tried not to move him too much.”

“He’s most likely got a concussion,” the paramedic said, “and a broken leg. You said he fell? Where is this blood from?”

The skepticism in the paramedic’s voice was not lost on Noah. He looked at Stiles who opened his mouth without missing a beat.

“He was running fast and slipped on the…on the blood.”

“Blood?” Noah balked, “Stiles, what the hell happened?”

Stiles’ reply was cut off by a call from Parrish on his radio.

“Sheriff, you’re going to want to come see this.”

Noah looked up, conflicted about leaving the group of kids in front of him.

“Go, Sheriff, we’ll make sure they’re all OK.” The second paramedic said before crouching in front of Allison to take a look at the cuts on her legs.

With on last lingering look at Stiles, Noah stood and walked over to the front of the library. He could already see the broken glass doors before he approached, and he could see flecks of blood strewn about the broken glass on the concrete outside. None of that prepared Noah for what he’d see when he stepped inside the library.

The lobby of the library was destroyed, shattered glass, broken doors and shelves. The tile was cracked for fucks sake.

“What the hell?” Noah muttered to himself.

“Sheriff!” Parrish called out, “Over here.”

Noah walked over to Parrish, gasping when he stepped to the side to reveal the body of the local librarian, Ms. Dane. Or, well, the pieces of Ms. Dane.  

Noah almost lost his dinner on the spot. Ms. Dane had been the librarian since _he_ was in high school, back when the library was a simple one story building downtown. Noah had never expected to see the old woman he’d seen grow with the town in pieces, her intestines pulled out onto the floor.

“Jesus, fuck.” Noah whispered, turning his head away from the scene.

It was then he realized that the kids had all seen this too, that _Stiles_ had seen this.

The were sets of footprints in the blood, a spot where it looked like someone had fallen and slipped through the deep red puddle as well.

None gave one last look at the body over his shoulder before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose, “We’re going to need to talk to the kids.”

 

X

 

Scott was the first interview Noah conducted. It was easiest, he was able to call Melissa personally and explain to her what happened. He asked her to come down to the station so he could speak to Scott and while Noah knew that Melissa wouldn’t have a problem with his speaking to Scott alone, this was a delicate situation and possibly connected to a bigger string of murders and Noah needed to do everything above board.

“Thank you both for making some time for me.” Noah said, smiling at Scott and Melissa.

Melissa smiled back, though the edges of it were tight and forced. Noah knew that Melissa had been worried since he called her, and the fact that he couldn’t share much information with her other than that Scott was uninjured didn’t do much to calm her. He’d assumed that Scott had told Melissa everything by now, or at least as much as he was going to tell her.

“How is Stiles?” Melissa asked.

“He’s fine,” Noah said, “he’s out waiting with Erica Reyes until her parents show up.”

“What about Jackson?” Scott asked, “Have you heard anything?”

Noah sighed, “Last I heard, his fibula was broken, and he had a pretty severe concussion. They’re keeping him overnight for observation. I’ve got a deputy stationed outside his room, but his parents don’t want him speaking to anyone until the doctors have cleared him.”

“Jesus, Noah,” Melissa sighed, “What the hell happened out there?”

“That’s what I want to ask Scott.” Noah said, “Just talk me through what happened.”

“Did Stiles tell you?” Scott asked.

Noah shook his head, “I need to hear everything in your own words, Scott.”

Scott grimaced.

Noah didn’t let Scott know that he hadn’t spoken to Stiles about what happened aside from the few questions outside of the library. Noah could feel that something was off with the whole thing, and while he didn’t think his son and his friends were a group of murderers, something just didn’t sit right with Noah. He wanted to talk to everyone else before he talked to Stiles.

Scott opened and closed his mouth a few times before he spoke, “We were working on our projects and we got pretty wrapped up in them, we didn’t realize the time until the librarian came over and told us we were the last ones left and the place was about to close.”

“What time was this?”

Scott shrugged, “A little bit before nine?”

Noah nodded for Scott to continue.

“Stiles came over and said his phone didn’t have service, I tried mine and it didn’t work either. I didn’t think it was that weird because the library is pretty far out, and I always lose my signal at school. Then the power went out and everyone started to get freaked out. That’s when we heard the scream.”

“Scream?”

“Yeah, we heard someone scream a few times and then what sounded like glass and wood breaking so we wanted to get out of there. We all stuck together and started to leave. When we got to the front that’s when we…when we saw the body. She was just laying there like that, and there was so much blood and it looked like the front room had been destroyed.”

Melissa’s hand on Scott’s shoulder tightened.

Scott continued, “Everyone freaked out, we were trying to stay calm, but we couldn’t call anyone because no one had service and we wanted to get out of there. Jackson was panicking so he ran, and I guess he slipped in the blood or something because he fell really hard and hit his head so we all had to carry him out and then you came a little while later.”

“Your shirt was ripped when I saw you,” Noah said, “how did that happen?”

Scott stiffened for a brief second, almost fast enough for Noah to miss, “I guess it got caught on some glass when we were carrying Jackson out.”

“Who exactly helped carry Jackson?”

“Me, Stiles, and Allison.”

“Allison Argent?” Noah asked, skeptical.

Scott nodded, “She’s like, stronger than Stiles and I combined, she still managed to hold onto him when she tripped and fell.”

Noah huffed out a small laugh, “Is there anything else you can remember?”

Scott shook his head, “I don’t think so.”

Noah nodded, standing up, “OK. You two go home and get some sleep, I’ll let you know if I have anymore questions.”

“Should we be worried about the kids?” Melissa asked, “If someone thinks they saw something…”

“Mel, don’t worry. I’m going to figure this out.” Noah smiled, “If it makes you feel better I can put someone outside of your house for tonight?”

“Mom, I think they probably have better things to do.” Scott said.

“It’s really no trouble.”

“No,” Melissa laughed to herself, “Scott’s right, your deputies have better things to do than babysit my house all night.”

Noah nodded, “Alright. You let me know if you change your mind.”

“I will.”

Noah watched Melissa and Scott leave. He waited another few minutes before leaning out the door and calling in his next set of parents.

 

X

 

Noah leaned back in his chair, scrubbing a hand over his face as he sighed. He’d just sent Allison and her father home and stared down at the notes in his book in a strange sort of disconnect. He went over everything again, starting with the notes he took during Scott’s interview, then Lydia Martin, followed by Erica Reyes, and finally Allison Argent. He almost couldn’t believe it himself, but there he was, sitting at a stainless steel table in the middle of an interview room and doubting the words of four scared and injured teenagers.

It wasn’t that they each didn’t put forth a compelling form of events, it’s that they were all almost the same. Sure, there were a few personal touches to each of their story, something that another kid might not have noticed, but by and large they were almost identical in their description of events. Noah normally wouldn’t have been bothered by that, but after spending so long researching the Hale fire over the last few weeks he’d gotten pretty good at picking up on when stories were _too_ similar.

Each kids statement followed the same beats, the same sequence of events in almost the exact same order. The power outage, screaming, breaking glass, the body, Jackson slipping and having to be carried out, Allison falling.

It just didn’t sit right with Noah. It was too perfect, too rehearsed. It was like Noah was being told exactly what he needed to hear to match up with the state the kids were in when Noah found them. And god damn, it hurt him to think it, but there was only one person who would know the exact kinds of things that Noah would be looking for in his investigation.

Stiles had grown restless all night as he watched his friends come and go from the room, and when it was just him left in the waiting room he seemed to vibrate almost uncontrollably. It wasn’t odd for Stiles, his body was always in perpetual state of motion, but there was a certain edge to it that Noah couldn’t overlook when he thought about it.

Noah knew for a fact that none of the kids killed anyone, that was clear as day, but he wasn’t convinced that they weren’t lying to protect someone.

But who would they be protecting? And why?

Noah sighed and pushed his chair backwards, wincing as it scraped across the floor. It was time to get it over with, time to pull Stiles in the room and find out exactly what he knew. He’d have to have another deputy sit in and ask most of the questions, because he was still trying to do everything above board, but even if the deputy wasn’t as tough as he would be himself, Noah could at least see how Stiles reacted. And there was nothing that said he couldn’t question his son as a parent at home afterwards.

It broke his fucking heart to have to do it, but Stiles had already broken the trust they’d shared up until that point in the past few weeks.

Steeling himself, Noah opened the door and waved to Stiles to get his attention.

He was interrupted by Parrish, rushing over to him with a phone pressed against his ear.

“Sheriff!” Parrish said, “They want you over at the hospital s soon as possible.”

Noah saw Stiles’ head whip towards them out of the corner of his eye.

“What is it? Is everything OK with the Whittemore kid?” Noah asked.

Parrish nodded, “He’s awake and he wants to talk to you now. His parents said he’d freaking out, wont calm down and said he needs to talk to the Sheriff now.”

Noah turned to face Stiles, just in time to see his wide-eyed look of fear before he wiped the expression off his face and replaced it with something more neutral and Noah’s heart broke all over again. Sometimes he really wished his kid wasn’t so easy to read, he wished that Stiles knew how much he gave away just with his facial expressions alone.  

“Tell them I’m on my way.” Noah said before walking over to Stiles.

“What’s up, dad?” Stiles asked, his tone casual.

Noah took a deep breath, “I have to go over to the hospital to talk to Jackson, I want you to head straight home and not to go anywhere else tonight. I’m going to have Tara follow you home and make sure you get there in one piece.”

“Jackson’s awake?” Stiles asked, “Is he OK?”

“I don’t know, kid.” Noah said, “I won’t find out what’s going on until I get there myself.”

“OK.” Stiles said.

Noah dropped a hand to his shoulder, squeezing tightly before standing up and walking towards Tara’s desk.

“Tara, follow Stiles home for me, will you?”

Tara smiled, “Sure thing. You want me to stay outside just to make sure everything’s fine?”

Noah thought back to Melissa earlier in the evening, “Yeah. If you’re fine with sitting there for an hour or two?”

Tara nodded, “Of course.”

Noah was at the hospital within ten minutes, the benefits of flashing lights and sirens. When he got off the elevator on the floor Jackson was on, he was immediately greeted by the sight of stressed out parents, one of which happened to be the District Attorney.

“How is he?” Noah asked.

Mr. Whittemore glared, “My son won’t stop having panic attacks and thinks someone is coming to fucking murder him, how do you think he is?”

Noah sighed, “Let me talk to him.”

Noah followed the Whittemore’s to Jackson’s room. The lights were dimmed, probably because of the concussion, and Jackson’s leg was up in a sling. There was an Iv drip attached to his arm and a small button dangled from the side of the bed. Jackson was hooked up to a morphine drip, Noah winced at the assumption of how much pain he must be in.

“Jackson?” Noah said softly, “It’s Sheriff Stilinski.”

Jackson flinched, hissing in pain and scrambling for the morphine pump. He jammed his finger down on the button and relaxed a few seconds later. Noah would have preferred if Jackson was a little more lucid for the conversation, but if he was as freaked out as his parents say than Noah would rather talk to him as soon as possible.

“Your parents said you wanted to talk to me about what happened tonight?”

“I…I think I know who it was.” Jackson whispered.

“You know who what was?”

“Derek Hale,” Jackson whispered, “He was…he was at the library. I remember him grabbing him, he had blood on him.”

Noah went rigid, his hands hurting from how tight he was squeezing them into fists. Pieces were starting to snap into place at a rapid pace, and Noah’s head was threatening to spin off his shoulders due to how fast his brain was working to put things together.

Noah took a deep breath, “Are you sure? How do you know who Derek Hale is?”

Jackson swallowed, “There was a picture of him in the paper. After Mr. Harris…”

“Are you positive it was him?” Noah asked, “I just have to be sure. You have a head injury and you’re in pain.”

Jackson glared at him, “I’m not a fucking idiot. It was his face, and I heard people saying his name.”

Noah tensed, “Who?”

Jackson took a deep breath, but then deflated, “I don’t know, I just heard everyone’s voices.”

“OK,” Noah said slowly, “Do you remember anything else?”

Jackson’s head turned to look out the window, “No.”

Noah nodded, “I’m going to leave a deputy outside of your room until you’re released from the hospital. Try and get some rest, Jackson. You need anything else then you just let me know.”

Jackson didn’t say anything. Noah turned and caught Mr. Whittemore motioning him out into the hallway.

“I’ve already spoken to a few judges,” Mr. Whittemore said as soon as the door to Jackson’s room closed, “They’re ready and waiting to sign any warrants you need as soon as you ask for them.”

Noah took a step backwards, “We both know how unethical this entire conversation is, and how it could destroy any case I possibly build in the future.”

Mr. Whittemore rolled his eyes, “Spare me the sanctimonious bullshit, we both know you’d do the same if it was your kid laying in that bed.”

Noah groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Life just got a whole lot more complicated.

 

X

 

Laura was pushing close to 100 miles per hour on the freeway as she tried to make it back to Beacon Hills. She’d gotten held up while meeting with Braeden, it took Laura more time to find her than she’d care to admit. Braeden took her privacy very seriously; her building was warded in ways that Laura had never seen before. It didn’t help that she was in an unfamiliar city looking for an unfamiliar person.

It had all been a waste of time anyway. Braeden’s father had a stack of files left over from when he looked into the fire, but there was hardly any new information in them. Most of it were things that Stiles and the Sheriff had already figured out, and the other half were things that Derek and Laura had already known.

The officials lied, and Kate led a group of hunters to their home, weakened the family with wolfsbane while they slept, and set the house on fire. Laura had hoped that there would be some explanation on how the hunters were able to get so close to a house of werewolves undetected, but it seemed that Braeden’s father was just as mystified about that as Laura had been all these years later.

The only new piece of information was something that hardly even mattered. It was just a single piece of paper, notes taken by Braeden’s father from a conversation with a bartender in Beacon Hills. A man matching Adrian Harris’ description was seen leaving the bar with someone matching Kate’s description, drunk and hanging all over her.

At least now Laura knew where Kate learned how to start an accelerated fire from. And it explained why Harris was one of the Rougarou’s victims.

Laura had basically wasted an entire day, and from the frantic phone calls she’d gotten from Stiles and Scott, it seemed like she would have been of more use back in Beacon Hills. She’d been kicking herself for the last two hours. She knew it was a bad idea to leave them, especially with everything that was going on, but she was so distracted by the thought of finding out more of what happened to her family that Laura had naively assumed that everything would be fine for an evening.

Of course Stiles and Scott, and their friends, would be attacked while she was out of town. Hell, they were probably attacked for that exact reason. The pack was at a weakened state with Laura gone, and the opportunity was quickly pounced upon.

Scott had almost died.

Stiles had almost died.

Derek had almost died.  

And they were all protected by Allison Argent.

Laura’s grip threatened to destroy her steering wheel. She let out a slow, shaky breath and tried to relax. She wasn’t thrilled about the idea of owing an Argent for protecting her pack, but if she had to owe any of them she’d rather owe Allison than Victoria or Chris.

Scott had told her, in vivid detail, about how Allison sprung to action to protect her friends from the Rougarou. If Laura hadn’t carried an ingrained hatred of anyone with the last name Argent, she’d almost admire the girl. Laura knew first hand how strong the Rougarou was, she knew that she had a tough time fighting it even in her Alpha shift with Derek as back up. But the tiny, human teenager jumped into action and fought it on her own and lived to tell the tale. Laura had to begrudgingly admit that it was an impressive feat.

On the other hand, Laura was less than enthused about Scott leaving out the fact that Allison now knew he was a werewolf, and that he was the Beta Laura denied having to Chris and Victoria only a week earlier.

She’d gotten that info from Stiles in a separate phone call. Stiles had given her the version of the story that was less clouded by heart eyes for Allison. Yes, Allison was just as impressive in Stiles’ version, but her attitude was a bit more in line with how Laura expected it to be.

Though Laura was a bit surprised when Stiles told her that Allison agreed to keep Scott’s identity a secret, and even more surprised when Stiles felt like she was telling the truth. She trusted Stiles’ judgment when it came to Allison, he’d been critical enough of her in the past that his endorsement meant Laura could rest a little easier.

She wasn’t looking forward to any upcoming conversations she was bound to though. Not only did she had to schedule a sit down with Allison, she also had to explain everything to Lydia and Erica. She was pissed that everything was agreed to without her knowledge, but she couldn’t exactly blame anyone. It was hard to lie to people when they’d just been inches away from death at the hands of a supernatural creature.

Laura wasn’t even going to begin to try and process the fact that Lydia had, apparently, screamed at the Rougarou and sent it flying across a building before almost taking down said building with the power of her voice. Laura was willing to bet that part of that was hyperbole, Stiles may not have the same kind of heart eyes for Lydia that Scott did for Allison, but it was clear he respected and admired her. At least they were pretty sure that Lydia was a banshee now and Laura had no idea what to make of that.

Laura didn’t know what kind of shit storm she’d be walking into back in Beacon Hills. She’d only briefly spoke to Derek on Stiles’ phone, he told her that he’d tried his best to clean up any blood or evidence of his involvement at the crime scene and that he saw one of Chris’ hunters disguised as a deputy retrieving all of the arrows that Allison had used in her fight, but Laura wouldn’t put it past the Sheriff to crack this entire thing wide open now.

There were too many variables at play, too many ways for someone to slip up and say the wrong thing. The Sheriff was a smart man, and no matter how many times Stiles tried to assure her that they’d worked out the perfect story, Laura knew it was only a matter of time before everything came to a head.

Laura was half an hour outside of Beacon Hills, she was so lost in her thoughts she almost didn’t see the figure in the middle of the road before it was too late. She snapped to awareness with just enough time to gasp, slam on the breaks, and jerk the wheel to the side. The car skidded sideways, narrowly missing the body in the middle of the road and threatening to send the Camaro tumbling over onto its side.

Laura sucked in a deep breath and exhaled shakily as she tried to get her wits about her. Her hands were shaking, just barely, as she released her white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel. She turned her head and looked out her window at hesitated for a brief second before opening the door and stepping out onto the pavement.

In the middle of the road, in the fetal position, laid a body. She could clearly tell it was a man with dark hair, he was naked, and his skin was almost as pale as the moon above her head. Laura took a single step forward, hesitating to take another one because of how dangerous it felt.

The air was charged, almost as if Laura could sense it was a trap. Laura took another step, her curiosity winning over her screaming instincts. As Laura got closer to the body, the feeling of dread plummeted to the depths of her stomach. She felt like this was going to end with herself ripped apart in the forest, but she was so close to the body now that she had to know for sure, she had to know if the body belonged to who she thought it did.

Laura stood over the man, his face was turned to the side and pressed into the asphalt, but Laura could hear the shallow beat of his heart. He was still alive. Laura reached down, slowly as if she was moving through muddy water, and rested her hand on the mans shoulder. A shock immediately went through her body, a red mark shooting its way up her arm and healing itself half a second later.

Laura had been shocked by magic once before as a kid. She was playing in Deaton’s workshop when she shouldn’t have been and unknowingly touched a book that had been warded. It was the same sharp feeling of pain she’d felt just a moment ago. Deaton had explained the intricacies of magic to her that day, about how you should never mess with something you’re unfamiliar with, but Laura hadn’t paid attention. She’d learned her lesson to not fuck with anything magical she didn’t know unless it came directly from Deaton.

Bracing herself for another shock, Laura reached down and quickly flipped the body over to reveal the face of the man in the road.

Laura gasped and pulled her hand, not because she was hurt again but because she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Laura stared with wide eyes at a body fully healed of any and every burn scar.

“Peter?”

 

X

 

Stiles wasn’t surprised when Tara stayed parked in the driveway after escorting him home. He’d expected it, especially after the call his dad had gotten about Jackson. Stiles could feel the entire web he’d spun unraveling at the hands of his father and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His dad had questioned every single one of his friends before even speaking to Stiles at the station, and Stiles knew exactly what that meant. His dad saw through their story, or at least saw the parts that didn’t quite add up. There was no telling what Jackson remembered, but for all Stiles knew his dad could be getting a crash course in werewolves while he sat on the end of his bed in his room.

The worst part was…he could barely bring himself to care. He was so tired, and every time he tried to close his eyes all he could see was Ms. Dane’s glassy eyes and the blood pulling around her severed body. Ms. Dane had given Stiles his first library card with a smile, and now Stiles had seen what her insides looked like.

He ran to the bathroom, shoving his head into the toilet and hacking, but nothing came up. Stiles only realized he was crying when his tears hit the water in the toilet bowl, sending tiny ripples across the still surface. His breath came in gasps, and in one swift motion it felt like the entire room was shrinking in on him even though he couldn’t see it.

He kept his head down, the sound of his wrecked sobs echoing off the porcelain around his ears. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Derek covered in blood, Scott pinned down and screaming, Allison fighting a losing battle, bruised and limping.

Stiles pushed his head out of the toilet, scampering backwards and slamming into the row of cabinets behind him. Stiles gasped in pain when one of the knobs drove itself into his back and he hunched forward, sticking his head between his knees as he tried to calm his ragged breathing.

Stiles squeezed his eyes shut, but all he could see were the bodies of everyone he cared about strewn in front of him. Everyone he loved was dead, their bodies ripped open like Ms. Dane. The Rougarou walked around him in a circle, taunting him while it licked the blood of his friends and his dad from its sharp claws.

“Stiles!” A distant voice that sounded like Derek called out.

Stiles’ breathing hitched and he let out a manic laugh. Of course, of course he was going insane and hearing voices now. What else was left?

He was losing his mind on the floor of his bathroom. His best friend was a werewolf. He had a crush on a different, broodier werewolf. The girl his best friend had a crush on killed werewolves. The girl he used to have a crush on put a new twist on the phrase ‘scream like a banshee’.

“You’re not losing your mind,” Derek’s disembodied voice said softly, “you’re having a panic attack.”

“I-I-I’m aware!” Stiles yelled out between sobs, “You can get out of my head now!”

Disembodied Derek huffed, sounding quite like the real thing.

“Stiles, look at me.”

“Nope. You’re not real.”

Suddenly, a strong hand gripped the back of his neck and Stiles felt it reverberate though his entire body like a shockwave. His head snapped up, eyes locking with a not disembodied, but very physically present, Derek.

Derek reached forward, grabbing Stiles hand and placing it on his chest, just over his heart. Stiles fought the urge to dig his fingers into the fabric of Derek’s shirt.

“You’re here.” Stiles whispered.

Derek nodded, “Match your breathing to mine.”

Stiles focused on his hand on Derek’s chest, trying to match his own breathing with the steady rise and fall of Derek’s chest. It took him a few minutes to get his breathing under control, but Derek didn’t move an inch. He stayed crouched in front of Stiles, a firm hand on the back of his neck, until Stiles pulled his hand away from Derek’s chest and coughed awkwardly.

“I…thanks.” Stiles trailed off, “I’m better now…I think.”

Derek’s hand lingered for a moment, the tips of his fingers trailing softly against the nape of Stiles’ neck as Derek pulled his had away.

“You’re here.” Stiles said, almost breathless.

“I’ve been here.” Derek confirmed.

Stiles’ eyes went wide when he realized that Derek directly replied to something Stiles thought he was only thinking in his head. He almost felt like he was going to fall into another panic attack, he’d been talking out loud and Derek heard everything he’d said.

“Don’t.” Derek’s voice was firm, but not unkind, “It’s…it’s fine, Stiles.”

The awkward silence only lasted for a few seconds before Stiles pushed himself up from the ground and stepped around Derek as he headed towards his room. He heard Derek’s footsteps behind him, so he left the door to his room open as he walked towards the bed and fell forward onto it. He heard the desk chair closest to his bed squeak with the weight of someone sitting down on it, so he rolled over on his side and found Derek leaning forward in the chair and watching him.

“Why are you here?” Stiles asked, rushing to clarify when he noticed Derek flinch slightly, “I mean, I’m glad you are. I’d probably still be on the floor of my bathroom losing it, but I figured you’d follow my dad to the hospital to find out what Jackson was telling him.”

Derek hesitated, “I was going to. I…I should have. But I was worried about you.”

Stiles wanted to tell Derek that he was fine, he would have dealt with everything himself. It should have been more important to find out exactly what Jackson was telling his dad. But he couldn’t.

“Thank you.” Stiles whispered, “For, you know, everything.”

“You’re welcome.” Derek stood from the chair abruptly, heading straight for the window, “I’ll be outside if you need anything.”

Stiles knew he should let Derek go, let him wait outside until his dad gone home.

“Wait.” Stiles whispered.

Derek stopped, one leg out onto the roof, and looked back at Stiles.

“Stay?”

It was one simple word, but it was as loaded as a wolfsbane bullet.

“Please.”

Stiles closed his eyes. He couldn’t bare to see the look on Derek’s face, or to watch as Derek climbed out of the window anyway. He winced as he heard the window shut with a soft thunk, and he told himself he wouldn’t cry. He could be alone in his room without losing it again. He could, it would be fine. Derek was still outside.

The desk chair groaned under pressure again.

Stiles eyes flew open and his mouth went dry when he saw Derek sitting in the chair, his leather jacket draped over the back of it, watching him.

“You’re staying?” Stiles asked, hating how pathetic he sounded. He wasn’t supposed t sound like that.

Derek nodded, “Until your dad gets home.”

Maybe it was mania, maybe it was the lingering effects of his panic attack, but Stiles sat up and slipped himself under the covers of his bed. He reached over and turned the light off, shuffling to one side of the bed, and he turned down the blanket on the other side of the bed and looked at Derek in the darkness, a question in his eyes that he knew Derek didn’t need light to see.

Maybe it was the darkness, or maybe Stiles looked even more broken than he felt, but Derek stood from the chair and sat gently on the edge of Stiles’ bed. Stiles wondered what he was doing at first until he heard the soft thump of Derek’s boots hitting the floor.  Stiles held his breath when the mattress dipped further under Derek’s weight as he slipped himself under the blanket and pulled it up to his chest.

Derek was close, close enough for Stiles to feel his body heat. Derek shifted, rolling onto his side so he and Stiles’ faces were only a few inches apart. The bed was usually big enough for Stiles alone, or even enough to comfortably fit Scott when he slept over, but there had never been anyone near Derek’s size in his bed and even if Stiles wanted to, there wasn’t much distance he could put between them without falling onto the floor.

Stiles could just make out the small details of Derek’s face in the moonlight. His blue-green eyes, the permanent five o’clock shadow, his lips. They were close enough now that Stiles would only have to shift a few inches to bridge the gap between them, to press his lips against Derek without thinking.

Stiles knew he could do it, he could do it, and he knew Derek would kiss him back. Derek wouldn’t have gotten into bed with him if he wasn’t ready for that possibility. Stiles leaned forward, his hand coming to rest of Derek’s chest in a mirror of their position in the bathroom a few minutes earlier. He could feel Derek’s breath ghosting over his lips, it smelled sweeter than Stiles had expected.

Stiles’ eyes flicked to Derek’s lips at the same time as Derek’s did to Stiles, and he closed his eyes and leaned forward to press them together.

He stopped with just centimeters between them. Stiles wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t put his hand on Derek’s chest, but he felt Derek’s entire body tense just before their lips met. He opened his eyes and backed away slowly, Derek’s eyes were shining electric blue in the dark room and they were full of warring emotions.

Confusion.

Fear.

Sadness.

Desire.

“Fuck.” Stiles let out a slow breath and closed his eyes again.

He felt Derek’s body relax as soon as Derek must have realized that Stiles wasn’t going to kiss him. He pulled his hand away and turned onto his back as he stared up at the ceiling.

Stiles, knowing what he’d accidentally learned about Derek, could only imagine how Derek felt right now. Stiles felt a wave of guilt crash into him. Just because Derek was ready for the possibility of Stiles kissing him, it didn’t mean that he _wanted_ it. Or maybe he did, but just because he wanted it didn’t mean he was _ready_ for it.

Stiles was hurt, and scared, and confused, and Derek was there. Derek was who he was leaning on, Derek was who he trusted and wanted to feel close to.

Stiles didn’t have to guess what it reminded Derek of.

“I want to.” Derek’s whisper pierced the silence like an arrow.

“I know.” Stiles said softly.

“But I can’t.” Derek swallowed audibly, “Not now.”

Stiles turned back on his side to face him, he tried to smile as reassuringly as he could, “I know.”

Derek turned his head and looked at Stiles, “I’m sorry.”

Stiles shook his head, “You don’t have to be.”

Derek reached out and pulled Stiles in close to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as Stiles’ head fell onto Derek’s chest. Stiles let out a yelp, surprised by the sudden movement. Derek tensed again and tried to push Stiles away.

“Nope!” Stiles laughed, wrapping an arm around Derek’s chest and holding onto him like an octopus, “No way. Too comfortable.”

Derek’s body relaxed again, and Stiles heard Derek’s small laugh come from his chest. Stiles smiled, content to melt bonelessly into Derek’s body as he drifted off to sleep. Derek’s hand trailed softly up and down Stiles’ back, his fingers rubbing swirling spirals over the back of Stiles shirt.

Stiles let out a pleased hum and smiled. Something about this was even more intimate than the kiss, and he briefly wondered why Derek was fine with this but not with a kiss, but those were Derek’s boundaries and Stiles wasn’t going to ask for a specific roadmap.

“OK?” Derek asked, his hand pausing momentarily.

“Mhm,” Stiles smiled into Derek’s chest, “I’m alright with a slow burn.”

Derek’s fingers resumed their motions, and Stiles let the soft feeling of them dragging over his shirt lull him off to sleep. He knew that things were probably going to be worse when it came to everything but Derek when he woke up, but in that moment the only thing he could think about was the sound of Derek’s heart beating and the feel of Derek’s hands on his back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hopefully the end of the chapter made up for basically giving you two different cliffhangers lol also i KNOW it seems like a tease/cop out to have them not kiss, and there's a version of this chapter written where they do actually kiss BUT i felt like with everything i've set up so far it felt very sus on both their parts to make any kind of moves after everything that had happened leading up to it but they are essentially done dancing around feelings for each other sooooooo after 24 chapters and roughly 145k words we have Sterek lift off people
> 
> also, shout out to the fact that i had no idea the sheriff's actual name was Noah until I wrote this chapter and had previously named him the standard John once before in like chapter 8 before i went back and changed it right before this lol


	25. Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> super quick update cuz its burning a hole in my laptop

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Five

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

 

Derek woke shortly after sunrise. The first thing he noticed was the unfamiliar room he’d woke up in. A brief bit of panic spiked through him as he struggled to remember where he was, but a soft sound from beside him snapped him back into awareness quickly. It all rushed back to him in one fell swoop, the entire night leading up to the moment he’d frantically pulled himself inside Stiles’ bedroom window when he heard the staccato rhythm of Stiles’ heart beating out of his chest.

He looked down and smiled, small and private, when he saw Stiles’ face pressed into the side of his chest. Derek’s legs were stiff from sleeping in his jeans, and his arm was numb from the weight of Stiles’ body on top of it, but it was the most comfortable Derek had been in a long time.

His mind raced as he remembered the night, rushing through the emotions of deciding to crawl into bed with Stiles. He remembered how terrified Stiles looked at the thought of sleeping alone after what he’d been through, how small and vulnerable he’d been from the moment Derek found him mid panic attack on his bathroom floor.

Derek swallowed deeply, his tongue darting out of his mouth to wet his chapped lips. The same lips that Stiles almost kissed last night.

Jesus.

Derek was so fucked up that he couldn’t even kiss Stiles. He wanted to, god he fucking wanted to, but in that brief moment before they connected he’d panicked. His mind flashed to his first kiss with Paige, and then his last, just moments before she’d died. His first kiss with Kate, and this his last, just hours before she killed his family.

Derek wanted to kiss Stiles, wanted to know what his lips felt like. Wanted to know how his breath tasted, if it was as good as it smelled. Wanted to know the kinds of sounds Stiles would make, would Stiles be aggressive or reserved?

But Derek couldn’t, because his head was a field of landmines just waiting to be set off by the wrong step of an innocent person.

Derek hadn’t known how to stop it, how to tell Stiles that he wanted to kiss him, but he couldn’t. He hadn’t had much practice saying no to people when it came to things like that. They were either like Kate, who didn’t take no for an answer, or like the other people who Derek never wanted to say no to, but they just didn’t matter.

Stiles mattered, and he didn’t want to fuck it up.

He would be forever grateful that Stiles realized what was happening, and that Stiles had stopped without Derek even asking him to.  How Stiles could tell, Derek didn’t know, and there was a part of him that didn’t want to know. Derek knew Stiles was smart, too smart for his own good sometimes, and Derek wondered, not for the first time, if he should tell Stiles about everything. Maybe it would be better for Derek to tell him and soften the blow before Stiles found out on his own. The thought made Derek’s stomach flip, Derek could only imagine the look of horror on Stiles’ face.

“I can hear you thinking in my sleep.” Stiles mumbled, his voice groggy and full of gravel.

Stiles’ voice drew Derek from his thoughts, and he looked down at Stiles with his blinking brown eyes, and tried to smile as best as he could, “Shut up.”

Stiles’ eyebrows knitted themselves together and he sat up, bracing his head on one arm and putting a few inches of distance between himself and Derek, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Derek said, trying to aim for as casual as possible while swallowing the lump in his throat.

The look on Stiles’ face told Derek he was less than successful.

Stiles sat up further, moving across the bed so there was as much distance between them as there could be without Stiles falling off the bed. Derek’s heart sunk, all his worst fears seemed like they were coming true in slow motion right in front of his face.

“Are you…” Stiles trailed off and took a deep breath, “Do you regret this?”

Derek’s eyes went wide, he was thrown for a loop. His mind was running wild imagining that Stiles had some type of epiphany in his sleep and had woken up realizing just how fucked up Derek was. He didn’t think that Stiles would ever thing Derek didn’t want _him_.

“Of course I don’t!” Derek rushed out, unsure if he should reach out for Stiles or keep the distance that Stiles had intentionally put between them.

“Really?” Stiles’ voice sounded hopeful, “I mean, if you did…I’d totally understand. I get that last night was like, a lot, and if you were just trying to make sure I didn’t go completely crazy then that would be fine. It doesn’t have to be more than just, you know, two guys just being dudes and waking up in each other’s arms. I can be platonic, platonic is a thing that I can be.”

Stiles didn’t show any sign of slowing down, so Derek impulsively reached out and pressed his hand to Stiles’ cheek, his touch feather light against Stiles’ skin.

“Stiles,” Derek said, waiting until Stiles was looking at him to continue, “do you not remember anything I said last night?”

Stiles blinked, “I do…but I wasn’t sure if it was part of a panic attack induced fever dream.”

Derek pulled his hand back and smiled, “I meant it, Stiles. I was just thinking about how I don’t want to mess this up.”

“Oh.” Stiles said, his voice softer as he moved back towards Derek’s side.

“I haven’t wanted anything in a long time,” Derek said, taking a deliberate pause, “I don’t want to mess anything up.”

“Me either.” Stiles smiled, curling up against Derek’s side.

“I still…I still want to take things slow,” Derek winced as the words left his mouth, “It’s…”

As if Stiles could tell Derek was having trouble forming the words, he reached up and placed a single finger over Derek’s lips, “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I’m more than fine with taking things slow, it’s not like I have that much experience to begin with.”

Derek let his hand fall on top of Stiles’ head, his fingers finally running over Stiles’ buzzcut, “I’ve wanted to do this for so long.”

Stiles laughed, leaning into the touch, “I told you it’s as fuzzy as it looked.”

“You smell so good,” Derek exhaled, “you’ve always smelled so good.”

Stiles made a choking sound, “Dude, I never thought someone tell me I smell good could make me blush.”

“Don’t call me dude,” Derek smiled, zero heat behind the words, “I almost lost it when you wore my clothes.”

“I knew it!” Stiles gasped, “I knew it and I thought I was just imagining it! You totally have like, a Stiles wearing your clothes kink!”

“Kink?” Derek sputtered, “It’s not a kink!”

“Mhm.” Stiles hummed, the sound reverberating in Derek’s chest.

“It’s not!” Derek could feel his skin growing warmer by the minute, “I just like how you look in them. And smell.”

Stiles was quiet for a second before whispering, “That’s a kink.”

“I hate you.” Derek grumbled.

Stiles looked up at Derek and rolled his eyes, “You really don’t.”

Derek wanted to glare, but he withered under Stiles’ smile, “You’re right.”

“So what do we do now?” Stiles asked, “Not that I’m saying we have to like DTR or anything, but, you know, just wondering.”

Derek raised an eyebrow, “DTR?”

“Define The Relationship.” Stiles said, entirely serious.

“Oh.” Derek said, “What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know, dude.” Stiles shrugged, “Do we like, go on dates? Do we tell people? Do we have to tell Laura? Oh god, Laura is going to have a field day with this. Scott’s going to die.”

“We can’t tell Laura when we go on a date,” Derek’s eyes were wide with fear, “she’d follow us for sure.”

“Really?” Stiles laughed.

“Laura was very invested in this.” Derek shook his head, “Too invested.”

“Oh god,” Stiles groaned, “she totally knew every time I was creeping on you.”

“She did.” Derek sighed, “And she encouraged it.”

“Have you heard from her since we called her?” Stiles asked.

Derek shook his head, “I left a note at the apartment that I’d be here, she should have gotten back a little after we fell asleep.”

Stiles stretched out, his shirt riding up a little, and leaned over Derek to grab his phone from the nightstand. Derek reveled in the freedom to just watch Stiles as he moved, happy in the fact that he no longer had to avert his eyes when he didn’t want to. Stiles dropped back down next to Derek, nuzzling into his arm as he lifted his phone to his face.

“Uh oh.”

“What?” Derek asked, leaning over to see Stiles phone.

Stiles tipped the screen towards him, grimacing out of the corner of Derek’s eyes as he scrolled through a long list of missed calls from Laura.

“How did we sleep through that?” Derek asked, “How did _I_ sleep through that?”

Stiles ducked his head, “I put my phone on silent. I didn’t think I’d need to answer any calls!”

Derek huffed out a breath, “You should probably call her back.”

Stiles cringed but nodded and tapped Laura’s name on his screen. The phone barely rang once before Laura answered.

“Finally.” Laura growled, “I’ve been calling you all night.”

“Sorry.” Stiles’ voice squeaked, “We fell asleep.”

“Derek’s still there?” Laura asked.

“Yes.” Derek replied, “What’s going on? You sound weird.”

“Something came up on my way home, I need you to meet me at Deaton’s.” Laura said.

“Laura, you’re freaking me out.” Stiles sat up, holding the phone out, “Is everything OK?”

“It’s a lot to explain,” Derek could hear Laura’s footsteps as she paced, “I’ll explain it soon, I just need Derek to meet me at Deaton’s.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Derek said.

“Oh.” Stiles said, and Derek didn’t need to have enhanced senses to know that he was feeling left out.

“If it’s something important I should bring Stiles with me.” Derek said, looking over at Stiles and giving him a small smile.

“I’m not trying to keep you away from anything, Stiles.” Laura said, “I just need you somewhere else while I deal with this.”

“Laura, what’s going on?” Derek asked, “Seriously. Tell us.”

Laura took a deep breath, “I found Peter.”

“What?” Stiles yelled, his jaw dropping open, “You just found him?”

“Where?” Derek asked.

“I found him last night on my way home. About thirty miles outside of town, he was just lying in the middle of the road.”

“Well that doesn’t sound like a trap.” Stiles intoned.

“He was out of it and there was magic all around him,” Laura said, “I could feel it. I didn’t know what else to do so I brought him to Deaton’s. We’ve got him chained up and behind a mountain ash barrier. I want you here when he waked up, Der. I don’t know what kind of state he’s going to be in, but Deaton thinks its best if it’s just you and I here when he wakes up. He doesn’t know Stiles or Scott, and the only interaction he’s had with them has been trying to kill them so…”

“Right.” Stiles looked to the side, “I’m totally fine with not sharing a room with a guy who tried to eat me less than twelve hours ago.”

Derek stood up from the bed, rolling his neck to the side to work out the kinks, “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“While Derek and I are dealing with this,” Laura said to Stiles, “I know you promised you I’d explain everything to Lydia and Erica, this is me giving you permission to do it without me. I trust you to explain everything that you can, and I’ll fill in any holes later, but I need them to understand that they cannot say anything.”

“They won’t.” Stiles said, “I really, really don’t think they will.”

“OK.” Laura said, “you might want to bring Scott for some show and tell.”

Stiles laughed, “We’ll see.”

Laura hung up and Stiles dropped the phone onto his bed. He shared a look with Derek before falling backwards onto the bed and groaning.

“That was, what? A good twenty minutes before hellfire and damnation returned?” Stiles flailed, his arms flying out to the side. “And now that I think of it, I’d actually prefer to be in a room with the crazy werewolf who tried to kill me than have to explain werewolves to Lydia and Erica by myself.”

Derek sat on the bed next to him, his hand resting on Stiles’ knee, “I don’t think there’s much left to explain. You just have to tell them the truth.”

Stiles sighed, “I haven’t been doing a very good job of that lately. You should have seen my dad last night, it was like, he knew I was lying through my teeth and he was too disappointed to even call me on it.”

Derek pulled Stiles forward so his head was in Derek’s lap, and his fingers resumed their previous position in Stiles’ hair, “I think Laura would be fine with telling him…if you wanted.”

Derek felt Stiles’ entire body go rigid. His eyes were closed when Derek looked down at him, and he sucked in a deep breath before opening them and looking back at Derek.

“I know my dad,” Stiles said, “as soon as he knows about everything that’s really going on he’s going to want to get involved. He’s not going to want me to be involved. I can’t sit on the sidelines while everything happens around me, but I can’t let him throw himself into this either. We can’t tell him unless we absolutely have to.”

Derek nodded, “It’s your decision.”

“Thanks.” Stiles whispered, a small smile on his face, “You should probably go.”

“Probably.” Derek said, making no move to get up.

He really should have, he knew it, but Derek was too busy trying to make up for lost time with Stiles. Derek didn’t think the novelty of being able to have Stiles that close to him would ever wear off. The only thing he wanted to do was fall back into the bed with his arms around Stiles and breathe in his scent as they drifted back off to sleep.

Derek might have, if he hadn’t heard the door open downstairs. He froze as he listened to the sound of the Sheriff’s heavy boots on the tile floor, the sound of his clanging keys as he threw them on the table, and the sound of his holster as he draped it over the back of a kitchen chair.

“Your dad is home.” Derek whispered to Stiles.

Stiles sighed and sat up, leaning his shoulder against Derek’s.

“I can probably pretend to be asleep until he actually does go to bed.” Stiles said, “Then I’ll get Erica and Lydia together.”

“It sounds like he’s on the phone, do you want me to listen?”

Stiles nodded, “Maybe he’ll say something about Jackson.”

Derek turned his ear to the door, leaning forward slightly so he could hear better, the Sheriff sounded angry, “I understand what your son is saying. I also understand that your son is suffering from head trauma and I have five other kids who are saying the exact opposite of him.”

“Jackson said something,” Derek whispered, “but it doesn’t sound like your dad believes him.”

“Kids lie, Sheriff.” The voice on the other end of the line said.

“My son is one of those kids, I’d advise you to choose your next words carefully,” The Sheriff’s heartbeat didn’t skip, “and so is your sons girlfriend. Why would Lydia lie about not seeing Derek Hale at the library? What would she have to lose?”

“Shit.” Derek hissed.

Stiles looked at him, “What? What’s happening?”

“Jackson told your dad I was at the library.” Derek shook his head, “He must have come to for a second when I was carrying him outside.”

Stiles sighed, “Typical Jackson. He forgets the giant man-eating monster, but he remembers you.”

“I understand you’re the District Attorney, and I understand you have connections. This is the second time you’ve told me that. I don’t think you understand that I am the Sheriff and you’re compromising anything I do from here on out by saying these things.”

“Talk to Jackson again.” The man on the phone growled, “I’ll make sure he tells you the truth.”

“I will speak to your son when the doctor clears him of any lingering head trauma. That’s final.”

The other end of the line went dead without a reply.

“Your dad won’t talk to Jackson until the doctors clear him. He thinks that Jackson’s head trauma is making him misremember things.” Derek told Stiles.

“I never thought I’d say ‘yay’ for head trauma,” Stiles scrunched his nose, “but yay for head trauma!”

Derek turned his ear back to the door just in time to hear a chair scrape against the floor and the sound of the Sheriff’s body falling into it. He heard a long sigh, following by what sounded like someone trying their best not to cry. Derek swallowed and tried to decide if he should keep listening or not.

“Jesus, Stiles.” The Sheriff whispered, “How the hell did it come to this, Claudia? Did I really fuck everything up that much without you? God, I wish you were here, maybe he’d tell you the truth. You were always better at talking to him than I was. Sometimes I think he’s scared of me, scared I’m going to judge him or throw him in a fucking cell for telling me the truth.”

“What’s he saying?” Stiles whispered.

Derek looked at Stiles, torn on if he should tell him the truth or not. On one hand, he knew Stiles was already beating himself up over lying to his dad. On the other, Derek didn’t want to start out whatever they were by lying to Stiles. He’d told Stiles the choice of telling his father was up to him, and Stiles couldn't make a true decision without all the facts.

“He’s talking to himself.” Derek said, “About you.”

Derek listened again.

“And Derek fucking Hale. Derek Hale, Claudia. What the hell, right? I remember seeing him at the supermarket as a kid, running behind his mom trying to throw shit into her cart. It seemed like all she’d have to do was glare at him to get him to behave. If only it were that easy.”

“Stiles…” Derek trailed off, “Is Claudia your mom?”

The scent of sadness filled the room almost immediately, it was so overwhelming that Derek wished he could grab ahold of the words and stuff them back into his mouth.

“He’s talking to mom about me?”

Derek nodded.

“I don’t know what to do,” The Sheriff was still talking, “I’m afraid no matter what I do it’s going to drive him away. If I force him to tell me the truth, he resents me. If I make Derek Hale tell me the truth, because I know there is truth there somewhere, Stiles may never forgive me. I just…I just want to know that he’s OK. You’d give me a sign if he wasn’t, wouldn’t you?”

“I don’t want to know what he’s saying,” Stiles whispered, “at least not right now.”

Derek nodded, slightly relieved, “Ask me whenever you’re ready.”

“You should go meet Laura,” Stiles said suddenly, “finding out about Peter is the most important thing right now.”

“Are you sure?” Derek asked, “I can stay a little longer?”

Stiles smiled and shook his head, Derek could smell the tears stinging at the back of Stiles’ eyes, but he knew Stiles didn’t want him to acknowledge them. Stiles needed time to process, to decide what he wanted to do. Derek stood and pulled Stiles into a hug, wrapping his arms around him tightly and taking advantage of the few extra inches he had on Stiles to rest his chin on the crown of Stiles’ head. They stood there for a few more moments, quietly holding each other tightly, until Derek put his hands on Stiles’ shoulders and smiled.

“Whatever you decide, I’m sure Laura would be fine with it.”

Stiles nodded, a stray tear slipping out of the corner of his eye.

“Thanks.”

 

X

 

Laura handed Derek a phone as soon as he walked into Deaton’s office.

“A flip phone?” Derek arched a dubious eyebrow.

Laura shrugged and rolled her eyes, “It’s the best I could do last minute. Text me so I have the number.”

Derek flipped the phone open and powered it on, sending quick texts to both Laura and Stiles so they had his number. It took Derek a few seconds to get used to the keyboard, but he discovered he had a pretty good muscle memory when it came to T9.

Laura stopped walking abruptly causing Derek to bump into her while he was pocketing his phone. Laura spun on her heel, and as soon as Derek saw the face splitting grin she was wearing he braced himself for the incoming onslaught. Laura reached out quickly, grabbing Derek by the shoulders and shoving her face into his neck. She inhaled and laughed, pushing him backwards and smacking him on the shoulder.

“You finally did it!”

“Did what?” Derek asked, feigning ignorance.

Laura leveled him with a blank look, “Really? You’re going to try and deny it? You smell more like Stiles than you do yourself.”

Derek kicked absently at the ground, “It’s really not what you think.”

“Oh really?” Laura poked him in the stomach, “Because I think you finally got your shit together and put the moves on our resident human.”

“I didn’t _put the moves_ on anyone!” Derek hissed, “We didn’t even kiss!”

“This is you in a good mood from not even kissing?” Laura laughed, “Remind me to ask you for literally anything I want when you finally do kiss him.”

“Shut up.” Derek glared, “I…we’re taking it slow. I don’t want to mess this up.”

Laura face softened, and she pulled him into a tight hug, “I love you.”

Derek groaned, but hugged her back just as tight, “I love you too.”

“I’m going to give Stiles the best shovel talk of all time, I can’t fucking wait.” Laura’s smile was positively evil, and Derek made a note to warn Stiles ahead of time.

“Speaking of pack members terrorizing people,” Derek tried to steer the conversation back onto the track, “show me Peter.”

Laura’s playful demeanor disappeared almost instantly. She led them down the hallway and down into Deaton’s magical basement, the same one they detained Scott in during the full moon. The lights were dim, and Derek spotted Deaton leaning against the far wall with a large book in his hand. He looked up when he heard Derek and smiled.

“Good morning, Derek.”

Derek nodded to him, but his reply was swallowed whole when he looked across the room at the opposite wall from Deaton. He took a hesitant few steps closer, stopping just short of the mountain ash line on the floor.

Peter was chained to the wall, his skin smooth and devoid of any burn scars. The skin still had a slight pink tint to it, as if the skin had only just healed itself recently. He was wearing a pair of mint green scrub pants, identical to the ones Deaton wore himself. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was shallow, but Derek could hear the steady rhythm of Peter’s heart when he listened in.

“I found him naked in the middle of the road.” Laura said, “Like he had just shifted back.”

“You said you find him thirty miles outside of town?” Derek asked, his brow wrinkled in confusion, “What time?”

“A little after 10pm.” Laura said, “Why?”

That didn’t make any sense. The Rougarou had attacked the library around 9:30pm that same night. Could Peter have really ran that far, that quickly, in time to be found by Laura on the road?

“The timing doesn’t make sense.” Derek said, “And why is he completely healed? How is he still alive? Allison pumped the Rougarou full of so much wolfsbane it should have died on the spot.”

Deaton spoke up, “I’ve said before that Rougarou’s are not effected by traditional werewolf weaknesses. Their purpose was to be a killing machine, the original witch who created the spell must have been very powerful because she found a way to strip the wolf of its weakness by combining it with the human self. A Rougarou, theoretically, could have no adverse effects from contact with wolfsbane. Touch or otherwise.”

“He smells normal.” Laura said, “Like pack. Like Peter. He doesn’t smell like the Rougarou.”

Deaton sighed, as if he was put out by having to explain everything, and sat the book down on the closest table. He walked over to Laura and Derek and folded his hands over his chest.

“Derek, you said that Lydia Martin…screamed and stopped the Rougarou, correct?”

Derek nodded, “I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like her voice was a physical object, it broke the walls, cracked the tiles, sent the Rougarou flying like it had just been hit by Laura and me at the same time.”

“I believe that my earlier assumption of Miss Martin being a banshee is correct.” Deaton licked his lips before continuing, “Banshees are usually solitary creatures, they don’t often venture out of their places of birth or interact with strangers so there is very little written about them. Some lore states that banshees have the ability to purify curses, that the magic that created them eons ago was so powerful and dark that it could strip the magic from lesser beings under the right circumstances.”

“You think Lydia’s scream…cured Peter?” Laura cocked her head to the side, “Doesn’t that seem a little too easy?”

Deaton shrugged and waved his hand towards Peter’s body, “I don’t know anything for sure, but I do know that the last time I saw your uncle he was covered in burn scars and catatonic. I would love to speak with Miss Martin, I never thought there would be an actual banshee in Beacon Hills. Will she be joining your pack?”

Laura took a step backwards, “I haven’t even met her yet. Let’s just focus on Peter for now, yeah?”

“Is there any kind of test you can run to see if he was the Rougarou?” Derek asked, “Or to find out if he’s cured.”

Deaton shrugged, “I suppose I could introduce him to some wolfsbane and see if he has a reaction.”

“Do it,” a shaky voice said from the closest wall, “and I will rend you limb from limb.”

All three of their heads snapped to the side at once. Derek was the first to make eye contact with peter, his head held up weakly, fighting a losing battle with the pull of gravity. Peter’s ice blue eyes locked with Derek and he smiled that infuriating smirk that had driven Derek crazy for nearly two decades.

“Hello, nephew.”

“Peter.” Derek gritted out.

Uncle Peter,” Laura said softly, “you’re awake.”

Peter’s eyes flicked towards Laura briefly, before he rolled them, “Yes, I’m so sorry you don’t get to kill me now. I’ll tell you, that was sure a surprise. Imagine my delight when I smell you enter the hospital, my long lost Alpha home at last, only to then feel your claws pressed against me with a whispered threat of my death.”

Laura looked as if someone had slapped her across the face. Her eyes were wide, and her jaw was hung open. She closed her mouth and swallowed thickly.

“I…”

Peter rolled his eyes again, “I’m sure you’re so very sorry, Laura. So sorry for leaving me alone to be tortured for years, just because you were too scared to come home and face your demons.”

Derek clenched his fist. Part of him wanted to walk over to Peter and rip his throat out for talking to his sister like that, but another part of him could see past Peter’s icy exterior and into the thinly veiled hurt that sat just behind it.

The worst part was, they couldn’t even deny Peter’s words. They had run away and left him alone for years.

“Tortured?” Deaton asked.

“I’ve been away from society for a while, so I might not be up to date on my definitions,” Peter hummed thoughtfully, “but I do suppose that being kept in magical catatonia for six years while being forced to remember the worst night of my life repeatedly counts as torture.”

Laura clasped a hand over her mouth.

“Six years?” Laura whispered, “You’ve been the Rougarou for six years?”

Peter’s eyebrows climbed to his hairline, “The what?”

“A Rougarou is-” Deaton began.

“I know what a Rougarou is,” Peter cut Deaton off with a roll of his eyes, “I wrote the entry for it in the Hale Bestiary. What I fail to understand is why you think I am one.”

“A Rougarou has been attacking the town for the last few weeks,” Derek explained, “it’s killing people who were involved in the fire. It started right after we got back to town, and after you went missing we found the runes in your hospital room, so we assumed that it was you and that you were being controlled by whoever placed them there.”

Peter scoffed, “You know what they say when you assume.”

“So you’re not…” Laura trailed off.

“Would he even know if he was?” Derek asked Deaton.

Deaton could only shrug, “Theoretically, memory loss is possible.”

Peter groaned, “I can assure you the witch that was keeping me had no interest in creating a Rougarou. Any time they came by my room to check on me, they blinded me, deafened me, took away my sense of smell, just so I wouldn’t be able to know who was doing this to me. The connection between a Rougarou and a witch generally requires constant contact, unless the witch who cast the original spell upon the Rougarou dies and then they’re left to their own devices and become, essentially, a super powered werewolf.”

“I don’t understand.” Derek said, “If you’re not-”

Peter cut him off with a sigh, “You’ve always been so naive, nephew. Let me tell you a story, I think you’re going to like it. It might sound familiar at first, but I promise you there are a few twists that you’ll never seen coming.”

 

X

 

Stiles leaned back against Lydia’s bed frame, Prada in his lap and reveling in the attention Stiles was providing. Erica was on the floor next to him, staring blankly at the white carpet in Lydia’s room. Lydia sat at her vanity, her hair piled up into a messy bun while she drank lemon tea with honey.

Lydia could still barely speak when Stiles showed up at her house, only offering him a horse rasp before pulling him in by the collar of his shirt. Erica had gotten there before him and Stiles was terrified to even think of what they’d talked about.

“Werewolves.” Erica repeated for the third time, “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“And Scott is a werewolf. And both of the Hales.”

Stiles nodded, “Laura is the Alpha.”

“The Alpha is the leader.” Lydia whispered, “Laura is the one in charge?”

“Yep.”

“And she knows you’re here telling us?”

“She told me to,” Stiles said, “it’s kinda hard to hide it after everything that happened last night.”

“That was another werewolf that attacked us last night?” Erica asked.

“Yes and no,” Stiles shrugged, “it’s complicated. It’s called a Rougarou, it’s kind of a magical hybrid between a human and a werewolf.”

“Magic?” Lydia repeated, “Magic is real, and the town Vet thinks I’m a banshee.”

Erica laughed, “I think it’s more than think at this point.”

Lydia glared at her, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I think Erica is referring to your epic Black Canary impression last night.” Stiles said, catching Erica’s smile out of the corner of his eye.

Lydia rolled her eyes and took another sip of her tea, “I’m not even going to pretend to know what that means.”

“A banshee’s thing is screaming…right?” Erica tipped her head back, “I think you nearly brought the library down with a scream last night.”

“Don’t be dramatic!” Lydia hissed, wincing at the strain it put on her throat, “I barely even remember last night.”

“Screaming aside,” Stiles said, “those feelings you’ve been getting, I think you’ve been sensing death.”

“Sensing death?” Lydia repeated.

Stiles could see the pieces falling into place in her head.

“The video store, the body at the school, the library.” Stiles said, “You knew all of those were going to happen before they actually did. You sensed it.”

Lydia sighed, “We’re changing the subject because I need a Xanax if we’re going to continue on this one.”

“What is Allison?” Erica asked, “I saw the way she moved and the way she fought that thing.”

“Allison is a hunter,” Stiles sighed, “her family hunts werewolves and other supernatural creatures.”

“For fun?” Lydia’s eyes went wide.

Stiles shrugged, “They’re supposed to have a code, only hunt those who hunt them, but they’ve done a pretty shitty job at following it and from what I can tell certain members of that family just use it as an excuse to take out their fucked up murder desires.”

“What do you mean?” Erica asked, “Allison has always seemed nice.”

“The jury is still out on Allison,” Stiles conceded, “but her fucked up aunt is certifiable.”

“Her aunt as in the new biology teacher?” Erica’s eyes went wide, “Seriously? Is everyone in this town but me some secret supernatural creature.”

Stiles raised his hand, “Still human here.”

“What do you mean about Kate?” Lydia asked.

Stiles took a deep breath, “You remember the Hale fire, right?”

Lydia and Erica both nodded.

“The Hales were a family of werewolves, they had never hurt anyone and one night Kate Argent trapped them in their home and set it on fire with them all inside. She killed them all just for fun, because they were different than she was, and she felt they deserved to die because of how they were born. The only ones who survived were Laura, Derek, and their uncle.”

Lydia sat her mug down on the vanity with a thunk, “Well, I for one have never liked Kate.”

“She does have a weird vibe.” Erica said, “I thought she was just into some weird shit or something, not that she was a murderer.”

“She makes my skin crawl,” Lydia said, her voice dropping to almost a whisper, “things just feel wrong when she’s around.”

“Maybe that’s the banshee talking.” Erica laughed.

Lydia glared at her but didn’t say anything. The silence spoke volumes.

Stiles thought back to the first day that Kate started at their school. He remembered Lydia’s first freak out in the hallway, about how she said she heard heels echoing through the empty hallway. And then, minutes later Kate entered the room in an echo of stilettos. Stiles could still see Lydia’s pale face when she heard Kate entering the room.

“Lydia,” Stiles said slowly, “what exactly do you feel when you’re around Kate?”

Something hadn’t ben sitting right with Stiles since Laura’s phone call that morning. She’d said she found Peter so far out of town, but there just didn’t seem to be enough time for him to get where Laura found him _and_ attack the library.

“Stiles.” Lydia’s voice was a harsh warning.

“Lydia, please.” Stiles said, standing up and walking towards her, “This is important.”

Lydia closed her eyes and clenched and unclenched her fists before opened them again and looking stiles directly in the eye.

“She feels like death.” Lydia said, “Ever since the first day she walked into class, any time I’m around her I feel like death is right around the corner. Have you ever felt like someone is watching you? It’s like that, but worse. It feels like someone is just behind you with sharp claws dancing across your back like they’re playing with you. It makes me sick to my stomach.”

“When else have you felt that outside of the classroom?” Stiles whispered.

Stiles barely realized that Erica had came to stand next to her. She was looking down at Lydia, hanging onto ever word.

“The library.” Lydia’s voice was suddenly back to full strength, sounding like there had never been anything wrong with it in the first place, “I felt it again last night right before we were attacked. It was the exact same feeling.”

Stiles’ vision went dark around the edges. He was only vaguely aware of taking a few steps backwards and dropping down to sit on the edge of Lydia’s bed. His brain hammered him with memories from the past few weeks.

The way Kate seemed to know what he was feeling that first day in class, the way Kate’s eyes always found him across large crowds, the day at the school when Kate looked right at him above the confusion of the murder as he said Derek’s name, the day after Stiles was shot by Allison’s arrow and Kate happened to know exactly where to grab him to put him in as much pain as possible.  

Stiles closed his eyes and the image of Kate in the interrogation room on Friday played on a loop. It was so obvious now that Stiles wanted to kick himself for not realizing it sooner. Kate looked _directly_ at him through the glass as if she’d known he was there, her forehead wasn’t bandaged and there was _zero_ trace of the deep, angry red cut that she’d shown the class only three days earlier.

Kate had known about his relationship with the Hales from the very beginning. She’d known about Scott being a werewolf. She'd just been fucking with him this entire time.

Kate had known everything because Kate was the Rougarou.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TA-DAAA! I've been waiting for this moment for a long time lol I was worried the little hints and bits of foreshadowing I've been dropping since Kate's first appearance were too small (thought I also thought some were incredibly freaking obvious and was worried they were going to give everything away in chapter 15 but if anyone realized it they didn't say anything lol), but I was so excited when someone mentioned their Kate theory in a comment on chapter 22 and it made me even more excited for this. 
> 
> As you may be able to tell, we're getting close to the end of this fic. I don't know exactly how many chapters will be left, but it's safe to say we're firmly in the final act now.


	26. Back to Where You've Never Been

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy easter! he's a chapter that entirely a flashback to the night of the fire that includes copious amounts of blood and minor character death and may have made me cry once or twice while i was writing it.
> 
> For added ambiance you could listen to Seven Devils by Florence + The Machine for the last part of this chapter since I had it on repeat the entire time and it’s basically what I would picture playing over the scene if this were in the show

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Six

Back to Where You’ve Never Been

 

Six Years Ago

 

Mariska had only felt as much pain as she did with fire licking at her skin once in her life, and that time she came out of it with magic. She knew she wasn’t going to come out with anything special this time, not even her life.

The smoke was unbearably thick, so much that she could hardly breathe. What gasps of air she was able to pull in were filled with wolfsbane. She wasn’t affected like the rest of the family, but there was a reason the flower was dangerous to humans as well.

She was drained, her energy almost completely spent. She’d wasted most of it trying to contain the flames with her magic. She’d tried sucking the oxygen out of the room, tried smothering them with invisible shields, she’d even tried to absorb the fire into herself. But there was no use, every time she’s extinguish part of the blaze, more flames would rise to take their place. The fire had spread too far, and she was too weak to do anything about it.

“We’re not getting out of here.”

Mariska winced as she heard the voice behind her. She turned to see Talia who barely held in a sob.

Talia’s eyes were burning red, her clothes torn and scorched, and her skin a cluster of angry bubbles from the fire and the wolfsbane infection.

Mariska balled her hands into a fist and shook her head, “No. We’re surrounded by mountain ash and I can’t get to it. I’ve tried to reach out to disturb the circle in any way I could think, but I can’t connect to it. Something, or someone, is blocking me.”

“Jesus.”

Talia winced. Mariska didn’t need to ask what for, she knew that Talia was hearing her family screaming for help. Mariska had often felt left out within the family, the pack, when it came to things like that. Sure, her magic afforded her certain special abilities, but she’d never come close to the heightened senses of the werewolves in the family.

Mariska was more thankful than she’d ever been that she was a human. She couldn’t hear anyone screaming above the roar of the fire.

Tears began to stream from Talia’s eyes, “How did this happen?”

Mariska pulled her into a hug, “I’m sorry. I should have…I should have sensed this. Done _something_.”

“Do not.” Talia growled, “I will not let you spend your final moments blaming yourself for this. It is no one’s fault but The Argents.”

Mariska’s stomach sank.

“Is there a way you can get a message to Laura and Derek?” Talia asked, “I…need them to know I love them. And I need them to know to run, to run away from this place and never look back.”

It was a small comfort to know that Laura and Derek were both out for the night visiting friends, but she and Talia both knew that the second the Argents realized that they escaped the fire that they would be hunted down.

Mariska closed her eyes and tried to concentrate as best as she could. She let the world bleed out around her until she was standing in a pool of darkness, the feeling of her magic snaking its way around her shoulders and to her hands, crawling its way over her skin from the scars on her back.

“Laura.” Mariska whispered.

The dark pool around her pulsed, a ripple running through it like a stone disturbing the calm of still water.

“Derek.”

A second pulse, another stone thrown into the pool of darkness that was slowly rising to her knees.

No response.

Mariska opened her eyes, gasping as the darkness fell away and the smoldering home raced back into her vision.

“I’m too weak.” Mariska’s hands were shaking, “I can feel them, I know they’re safe, but I can’t reach out and make contact.”

Talia dropped a hand to her shoulder and squeezed, “It’s OK. Laura will know soon. She’ll find Derek and they will run.”

Mariska reached down and grabbed Talia’s other hand, twining their fingers together as they walked towards the steps that led to the basement. Mariska could hear crying as they got closer to the door. Talia’s hand tightened in hers.

“I…” Mariska trailed off, “I can put us to sleep. I can make sure we don’t feel any pain. It’s a simple spell.”

Talia looked at her, her eyes thick with resignation, and brought a shaking hand up to her face.

“How do I tell my children they’re about to die?”

“You don’t.” Mariska said simply, casting a silence spell on the door in front of them without looking at it, “We lie to them.”

Talia’s eyes flashed red as she whirled on her, claws extended, “You want me to lie to my children?”

Mariska was unflinching. She knew her role in the pack. She and Peter were always the ones everyone went to when the wrong thing had to be done for the right reason. She made no declarations of morality, often falling on the side of morally ambiguous, and she wouldn’t let her looming death stop her.

“I want your children, and _my child_ , not to spend their last moments on earth terrified and in pain. I would gladly lie to them, let them think help is coming and this is all a nightmare that will be over soon, just so they don’t die scared. We know we’re not getting out of this, Talia, the children don’t have to.”

Talia’s claws slowly retracted as she took a step backwards, “I want to be awake.”

Mariska rolled her eyes, “You’re an idiot and a martyr.”

“I am your Alpha and you will respect me.” Talia growled.

Mariska looked over her shoulder at the advancing flames, “Not for much longer.”

Talia’s shoulders slumped, “Please, Mariska. For once in your life, please just listen do me and do what I ask. It’s my final wish.”

Mariska stared at her for a moment before undoing the silence spell and nodding, “Fine. I’m sorry.”

Talia hesitated before opening the door, looking back at Mariska and smiling, “I know.”

The room quieted as Talia opened the door. The sobbing died down, replaced by intermittent sniffles and coughing. The pack was gathered together at the back wall of the basement, the escape door and the black line of mountain ash blocking it taunting them all. Talia’s husband was huddled around their children, his arms holding them closely and rubbing soothing circles in their skin.

Peter was against the opposite wall, Joshua cradled in his arms as he rocked him back and forth. Mariska’s heart broke, she hadn’t held Joshua like that in far too long, ever since he’d gotten too big for her to hold on to for more than a few minutes at a time.

Cora sat next to them, her dark hair bunched up into two pigtails, sniffling as Peter’s hand tightened on her shoulder. They were separated from the rest of the pack, masks over their face to try and at least protect them from the wolfsbane.

Mariska had been close enough to the three of them that she was able to shield them from it before the mist came into contact with them. She held the barrier long enough for someone to bring them masks to stop the inhalation, but that was before the fire was lit.

Peter caught her eye when she stepped into the room, a silent question in his stare. Mariska shook her head, a barely imperceptible no, and Peter nodded before pulling Joshua and Cora closer to him.

“Mom?” Cora asked, her voice so small and frightened as she zeroed in on Talia.

Talia closed the door behind them and flattened her palms against her thighs. Mariska was glad everyone’s heart was working overtime, if any of the kids were listening they wouldn’t have been able to catch Talia’s lie.

“Aunt Mariska was able to get control of the fire,” Talia said, her voice as even as it could possibly be, “help has been contacted and they are on their way.”

“What about the wolfsbane?” Joshua asked, shattering Mariska’s heart into pieces all over again.

Talia smiled, “Dr. Deaton has been contacted, he’s bringing everything we need.”

“We’re not going to die?” Elizabeth, Talia’s second youngest, asked. Her voice was so fucking hopeful, so fucking relieved.

“No.” Mariska said, taking the burden of the lie off Talia’s shoulders, “We’re going to be fine.”

When Mariska finally looked at Peter, she could see the fury in his eyes. Mariska smiled and walked over to him, sitting down gently next to him and pulling Joshua onto her lap. Cora got up and ran to Talia, throwing herself into her mother’s arms.

“We’re really safe?” Joshua asked.

Mariska nodded, “Yes, little one.”

Mariska didn’t need to be a wolf to hear the sharp inhale of breath behind Peter’s mask. Mariska looked at him, an eyebrow arched, and held up a single finger. Peter nodded, and Mariska placed the finger on his temple and closed her eyes as her magic wound its way up her arm again.

“How dare you!” Peter’s voice growled in her head.

Mariska had to bite back a laugh. It always fascinated her how Peter’s angry snarl was able to translate to his thoughts so perfectly.

“Quiet.” Mariska projected her voice into Peter’s head, “I’m not spending our last moments together arguing. We’ve done enough of that over the years.”

“We wouldn’t have to argue if you weren’t such a stubborn woman.” Peter’s thoughts hissed, “Everyone is going to die thinking they are safe.”

“And that is better than dying in screaming agony, knowing that there is no hope.”

“You’re robbing them of their last goodbyes!”

Mariska sighed, “We’ve all said our last goodbyes already.”

Peter jerked his head away from Mariska’s finger, severing the connection.

“Dad?” Joshua asked, looking up at both of them.

Peter smiled and ran his fingers through Joshua’s hair, “You know how much we love you, right? You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, Simba.”

Mariska felt a tear roll down her face at the name. She closed her eyes and through of Joshua, all of four years old, running around the house growling at everyone after watching The Lion King for the hundredth time and insisting he wasn’t a wolf, but a lion.

Joshua smiled, “I know. Does this mean I don’t have to go to school on Monday?”

A laugh erupted from Mariska, a terrible, watery sound. She pulled Joshua against her and Peter and squeezed him at tightly as she could.

“No, baby.” Mariska whispered, “No school. We’ll take the day together, go do anything you want to do.”

Joshua looked up at them, his expression so soft, “Awesome.”

Mariska held her smile for long enough to press two fingers against his forehead and whispered, “Sleep and feel no pain.”

Joshua’s eyes closed slowly as he dropped against Peter’s chest, a smile still on his lips.

Peter’s eyes went wide, “How dare yo-”

“Sleep.” Mariska said softly, pulling Peter’s face towards hers and kissing him tenderly on the lips before his body fell slack and he crumbled back against the wall with Joshua in his arms.

Talia looked over at her and nodded. Mariska stood, placing a kiss on the crowns of Joshua and Peter’s heads, and walked over to the rest of the family. Talia was sitting in front of them, pulling each child into a fierce hug. Mariska dropped down next to her and repeated the motions, quickly putting each child to sleep and resting them against one another.

Talia’s husband was last. They shared one final kiss and he walked over to the children, pulling them all into his arms, and nodded to Mariska.

“I understand.”

He was asleep a second later.

“That’s everyone.” Talia whispered, looking out over their sleeping family.

Mariska nodded, “Peter was furious.”

Talia hummed thoughtfully, “I figured he would be.”

Mariska stepped towards Talia, pressing their shoulders together, “I’ll stay with you for as long as I can.”

“No.” Talia shook her head, “Go be at peace with your family.”

Mariska flicked Talia on the ear, earning a surprised growl from her.

“You’re my family too.”

Talia’s eyes began to pour tears at once, she reached out and pulled Mariska into a crushing hug.

“I’ve never been able to thank you enough,” Talia whispered, “for what you did for Peter. For loving him. For giving him Joshua. You saved his life.”

Mariska tried to hold herself together, she wasn’t going to let this break her. She wasn’t going to die scared and sad.

“He saved me too.”

Mariska closed her eyes and let the memories rush back to her. Peter had saved her quite literally. She could still remember his soft voice as he carried her out of the forest, the warm sensation of him draining the pain from her body as she bled all over him. The blood on his hands that wasn’t from her, but from the people he’d killed to save her. His bright blue eyes promising her the world and delivering it tenfold.

Talia’s head turned towards the basement door and Mariska saw her chance. She wasn’t going to let Talia punish herself, she reached out towards the base of her neck to put her to sleep, but Talia spoke and stopped her in her tracks.

“Someone is in the house.”

“What?” Mariska hissed.

“Footsteps.” Talia pointed towards the ceiling.

“Who?” Mariska asked.

Talia turned to face her, her face shifted, “Kate Argent. She’s taunting us.”

Mariska let out a bitter laugh, “Figures. That bitch just can’t leave well enough alone.”

Talia ripped off her shirt, “I’m going to die in here, but I’m taking her with me.”

Mariska ginned, this was a cause she could get behind. She couldn’t think of a happier way to spend her last moments on earth than dragging Kate Argent down to the pits of hell with her.

Mariska cracked her knuckles, “Lets do this.”

Talia crouched down to the ground, “You’re with me?”

Mariska’s responding smile was sharp as a knife, “Until she’s dead or I am.”

“One last time for the books.” Talia smiled, shifting fully into her Alpha form.

Mariska was always mesmerized at how beautiful Talia was as a wolf. She was huge, almost coming up to Mariska’s chest, and her dark black fur made those blood red eyes stand out in a way that was terrifying and intimidating.

Talia made her way around the room, rubbing her cheek against each sleeping member before making her way back to Mariska. Mariska nodded and opened the door to the basement, flinching backwards at the rush of heat that swept through the room. She could feel her skin start to burn but she blocked the pain out. The pain didn’t matter, not when she still needed to kill an Argent.

The fire was raging by the time she made it to the main level of the house. The grand staircase had collapsed, cutting off access to the rest of the house, and Mariska could hear the house groaning under the loss of the stabilizing walls.

The sleeve of Mariska’s shirt had caught fire, so she pulled it over her head and tossed it into the blaze. She reached over her shoulder and ran her fingers along the jagged, angry scars that had marked her back for so long. They were pulsing with power, as if her body realized what was happening and was trying to supply her with as much power as she could. She could feel it drawing from within her, using up what was left of her body to boost its power.

She’d read about it before, about how a witch could use their own body as a catalyst to draw upon massive amounts of power. It sounded great in theory, but in practice it almost always ended with the witch dead. That didn’t matter to Mariska, she was going to die either way. She might as well have some fun before she did.

Mariska closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, heedless of the smoke and wolfsbane. She felt the power rush through her, burning her from the inside out. It was both pain and pleasure like she’d never felt before. When she opened her eyes, she caught her reflection in a cracked mirror at the end of the hall, her magic was pouring out of her, visible as it rose from the scars on her back and swirled around her body like tendrils of purple darkness. She stepped closer and looked at her face, her eyes were pure white.

Talia stopped next to her and let out a low whine. Mariska looked down at her and saw the fur on Talia’s back standing on end. She reached down and pressed her hand against Talia’s cheek.

“Always knew I’d go out with a bang.”

Mariska raised her hands to try and smother the flames. She let the magic pour out of her, blanketing the floor and snuffing out the fire, but just as before, the flames sprung back to life. Mariska could see the magic in the flames though, could see the glimmering darkness just below the surface.

“Still no good.” Mariska whispered, she knew it was a long shot, but she had to take advantage of the power flowing through her to try.

“Wow,” Kate Argent’s voice came from the next room over, “didn’t think anyone would be left by now.”

“Hide.” Mariska whispered to Talia, “Surprise her.”

Mariska briefly smothered the flames in the doorway, so she could face Kate Argent. She stepped into the room and stood with her arms out to the side, waiting for Kate to make her move.

“Figured it would be the witch,” Kate rolled her eyes, “you were always more trouble than you were worth.”

“You just couldn’t resist, could you?” Mariska asked, “You had to come see the destruction for yourself.”

Kate grinned, “I really did. And I have to tell you, it’s better than I even imagined. Fuck, it’s making me _wet_.”

Mariska reached out, sweeping her hand to the side and sending Kate flying into one of the glass china cabinets. Kate rolled to the side as she crashed down to the floor, pulling a gun out of her holster and aiming it at Mariska as she stood.

Kate didn’t hesitate before she pulled the trigger. The world slowed down, almost as if everything was moving in slow motion, and Mariska saw the moment the bullet left the chamber of the gun. She saw it flying through the air, the ripples it made as it moved, and held her hand outwards, palm flat and facing the sky.

A light flashed in the middle of the room, and then the bullet was lying flat in Mariska’s palm. Mariska turned her hand over, smiling as the bullet fell to the ground with a small thud.

Kate’s eyes went wide, “Witch bitch got some new tricks.”

Mariska didn’t reply.

She reached out with her magic, gathering the shards of glass from the shattered china cabinet and pulled them across the room so they were floating behind her. She looked over her shoulder at the gathered mass of shards and twirled her finger in the air, smiling as the shards moved with it. She flung half of them at Kate.

Kate dodged the incoming shards, but Mariska predicted her move and sent the other half of the shards towards where she thought Kate would land. Kate screamed in pain as the shards embedded themselves into her side.

Talia made her move after that, leaping through the flames with a savage roar. Talia moved quickly, bits of her fur still on fire, as she lunghed towards Kate. She swiped her claws across Kate’s back, tearing into her skin and drawing another scream out of Kate’s throat.

It was music to Mariska’s ears.

Kate pulled a knife out of her boot, swiping it at Talia and catching her across the face. Talia whimpered and fell to the floor, rolling back and forth and pawing at her face while Kate took the opportunity to recollect herself.

Mariska could feel her power draining but she pushed forward, shoving both hands towards Kate and blasting her off her feet with a shockwave of magic. Kate screamed as the shards of glass dug deeper into her skin. Talia recovered and pushed herself to her feet, running towards Kate and driving her head into Kate’s stomach.

Mariska collapsed to the ground, her hands trembling as blood began to drip from her nose.

Almost time then.

She looked up just in time to see Talia pin Kate to the ground and bite her, her jaws digging into Kate’s shoulder and ripping back and forth violently, almost severing her arm completely. She let go and looked back at Mariska, her teeth bared in a smiled that was red with Kate’s blood.

“Good girl.” Mariska whispered, watching as Talia went back in for the kill.

A gunshot rang out and Talia screamed in pain, a sharp whimper escaping her mouth as she staggered backwards and fell to the ground. Kate was on the ground, her shoulder torn open, with a small gun resting on the center of her chest. She was gasping for air and blood was rapidly pooling under her.

“She…” Kate’s breathing was labored, “She fucking bit me.”

Mariska laughed, “Welcome to the family.”

It was almost poetic. The hunter, bitten by the very Alpha she was trying to kill. They may not kill Kate themselves, but Mariska knew the code and knew exactly what an Argent was supposed to do if they were ever bitten by an Alpha.

“We win.” Mariska laughed, pushing herself up and stumbling over to Talia.

Talia’s breathing was shallow, the bullet had entered her chest and was probably dangerously close to her heart. Mariska pulled her into a hug and ran her fingers down Talia’s spine.

“You did good.” Mariska whispered.

She felt Talia shift beneath her, and when she looked down Talia was human again. Blood was pumping out of her chest and Mariska reflexively placed a hand over the wound to stop the bleeding.

“I bit her.” Talia rasped.

Mariska nodded, “She’s dead either way now.”

Talia shook her head, “No. You…you have to kill her. She shot me after I bit her, if I die…she’ll steal the Alpha power from Laura.”

Mariska muttered a string of obscenities. She hadn’t thought of that. She looked at Kate from across the room, unmoving but clearly still breathing. Mariska tried to push herself up, but she collapsed back to the ground immediately. She couldn’t move, she barely had enough strength to hold her head up. She tried to reach out with her magic, but it was almost entirely depleted now. Her nose began to bleed faster, and she could feel the growing pressure in her head.

She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t let Kate steal the Alpha inheritance from Laura, but she couldn’t move herself to do anything else. She knew she didn’t have long left, but she couldn’t think of anything to stop it before she died herself. Mariska looked around the room, desperately trying to find something to help. It wasn’t until her eyes fell on the desk in the next room over. It was the desk in Peter’s office. A black book sat on the desk, somehow untouched by the flames.

The Hale Bestiary.

The plan came to her like lighting as she remembered the last entry she’d helped Peter research. She’d spent countless hours speaking to friends and other witches she’d made connections with over the years trying to find information on a single topic. In the end, she and Peter had compiled what he believed was the most comprehensive collection of information on one of the darkest secrets of the respective supernatural families, the Rougarou.

Mariska might not be able to kill Kate, but she could curse her. She could curse Kate with the blight of the Rougarou, strip the traditional powers of a werewolf from her, saving the Alpha spark for Laura, and leave her as a walking monster who would have no choice but to end their life.

She explained it to Talia as quickly as she possibly could.

“It’s dark magic,” Mariska said, “darker than any I’ve ever worked with.”

“But it will save the Alpha power for Laura?” Talia asked between gasps.

“Yes.” Mariska nodded, “Kate won’t be a normal wolf, she wouldn’t be able to inherit the power.”

Talia nodded, “Do it.”

Mariska held her breath for a moment, “It requires a blood sacrifice.”

“Use me.” Talia said immediately, “I’ll be dead in a few minutes anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Talia smiled, “As long as it won’t hurt Laura.”

Mariska shook her head, she'd spoken to someone who'd sacrificed an Alpha for the curse once before and was assured it didn't do any damage to the natural succession line, “No, it won’t. Once the sacrifice is complete your power will go to Laura as it should.”

Kate made a noise off to the side, and Mariska could see that she was already starting to heal.

“Do it.” Talia said, her eyes glowing red.

“It’s going to hurt.” Mariska warned her, “I can’t do anything about the pain.”

Talia looked at Kate, “It’s going to hurt her more.”

“Alright.”

Mariska sat up, pulling Talia’s back onto her lap and bracing herself on the coffee table nearby. The flames were getting closer and she could feel Talia slipping away under her, she didn’t have any time to waste.

She pulled the magic from the deepest part of her soul, feeling it rip away from her body in the process. This would be the end. Once she cast the curse, Mariska would die too.

Mariska held her hand above the wound on Talia’s chest, grateful that she didn’t at least have to wound Talia herself.

“Goodbye sister,” Mariska whispered, “you were a wonderful Alpha.”

Talia closed her eyes and smiled, “Goodbye.”

Mariska’s hand started to glow, her veins turned black as she raised her hand above Talia’s body. Talia’s blood began to pour out more rapidly, flowing upwards towards Mariska’s hand as it hovered above Talia. Talia screamed out in pain as the blood left her body, her body growing more and more pale as the seconds passed.

The blood was swirling around Mariska’s hand now, flowing like a continuous river that would never end. As the last drop of blood left Talia’s body, her screams quieted and she felt Talia go slack against her.

Talia was dead.

Mariska turned her hand over, the blood flowing together and forming a deep red orb that hovered above her palm. She looked at Kate as the darkness closed in around her. She could feel things she’d always feared just beyond the dark veil that laid itself out in front of her.

Demons clawing their way up from hell to get a piece of her. They couldn’t have her, not just yet.

She fought back the darkness and refocused on Kate.

**_“Bane of moonlight, overwhelming pain. Maddening power, burning flame. Growling rage, wolfs fang. Blood moon, manifest your blight.”_ **

The orb of Talia’s blood grew several sizes larger, shooting forward towards Kate. It stopped when it reached her, hanging just above her for a few seconds before it burst like a popped water balloon. The blood cascaded over Kate, covering her and seeping into her pores. Kate screamed louder than Mariska had ever heard any human scream, her body violently convulsing as her bones cracked, shifted, and reformed.

When Kate turned her head to look at Mariska, her eyes were pure black.

She’d done it. Kate was cursed.

The pressure began to build in Mariska’s head. She could feel the blood pouring from her nose, her eyes, and her ears.

The last thing Mariska saw before her world exploded into hellfire and pain was Peter, standing just across the room from her, screaming something she couldn’t hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wouldn't get used to such fast updates lol i just felt bad for leaving you guys on that cliffhanger and the fucking response i got to that chapter was insane and made me feel so freaking good that i just had to give you more quickly 
> 
> sorry this chapter was a bummer lmao but its required for knowledge! i really love mariska and i'm very sad that i killed her.


	27. The Calm

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The Calm

 

 

Stiles stumbled his way into Deaton’s office, Erica and Lydia on his heels as he led them to the secret door to the buildings basement. Stiles weaved his way around an old woman with a cat as he held the door to the back office open for Erica and Lydia.

“Where is Dr. Deaton?” The old woman asked, “I’ve been waiting forever and my cat just won’t stop meowing.”

Stiles froze, “Uh. Sorry. Big emergency! Big dog stuff!”

The door shut on the woman mid-sentence.

“Does Deaton really have no other employees?” Erica asked, her eyes drifting down the empty hallway.

“Just Scott,” Stiles said, “I imagine the secret magic room would be hard to explain to anyone else.”

“Scott never found it.” Lydia pointed out.

Stiles shrugged, “Yeah, but Scott is Scott.”

“True.”

Stiles hefted open the door to the basement, groaning as the door scraped against the floor. The stairwell was dimly lit, just the lights flickering overhead as they thundered down the stairs. They came to a stop at the bottom and it only took Stiles a few seconds to spot the _man chained against the wall_.

“Dude.” Erica gasped.

All heads in the room turned to them.

“Stiles?” Laura and Derek said at once.

“Hi.” Stiles waved, and then pointed to the man on the wall, “Peter, I presume?”

Laura shook her head, “I thought I told you to give us time for this?”

Stiles cringed, “See, that was the plan. And the plan was working! But then we started talking and Lydia made me realize something!”

“Hi.” Lydia looked at Laura, “Nice to meet you.”

Laura smiled, though it looked a little tight. Deaton stepped around her and crossed the room, stopping in front of Lydia.

“Miss Martin, it’s a pleasure.”

Lydia raised an eyebrow, “You’re acting like you just met me, I was just here last week.”

“I suppose,” Deaton smiled, “though this is the first time I’ve met you as your true self. I never thought I’d meet a banshee in the flesh.”

Lydia took a step backwards, “This is too weird.”

“A banshee?” An amused voice that Stiles didn’t recognize mused, “it’s been so long since I’ve come into contact with one. They are truly fascinating creatures.”

Stiles quickly connected the voice to Peter, and he saw Lydia eyeing him with a deadly look.

“Can we not refer to me as a creature?” Lydia scoffed.

Peter laughed, “Don’t be so sensitive, you’re in wonderful company. Humans, and werewolves, and banshees, oh my!”

“Is he crazy?” Erica whispered to Stiles, “He seems crazy.”

“I’ve always been crazy.” Peter mused.

“I believe it’s lingering effects from the magic that was used on him. He should be back to normal soon.” Deaton said.

“Wonderful.” Derek muttered, stepping close to Stiles.

“Don’t sound so excited, nephew.”

Derek took a few steps forward, moving closer to Stiles as if he was trying to protect him from Peter. Stiles stayed silent, interested and confused in the weird family dynamics that were at play. Derek came to a stop, his hand reaching out to rest on the small of Stiles’ back. Stiles froze for a second, surprised by the touch. He’d wondered how Derek would act with him when they weren’t alone now that they were…whatever they were. He leaned into the touch a moment later, ignoring Erica clearing her throat and muttering to Lydia under her breath.

Laura evidently heard them if the barking laugh she let out was any indication.

“What did you come here to tell us?” Laura asked, a smile still lingering on her face.

“Right, this is going to sound crazy and I can’t really prove it, but I have some pretty solid circumstantial evidence,” Stiles took a deep breath, “I’m pretty sure Kate is the Rougarou.”

Derek’s hand tightened, fisting Stiles’ shirt into a ball in his palm. Everyone eyes bounced around the room, as if they were having silent conversations with each other.

Derek was the one who finally spoke, “We know.”

“Oh, good,” Stiles’ brain took a moment to catch up to his mouth, “wait, _what_? How do you know?”

“Peter told us.” Laura said.

“How does Peter know?” Erica asked.

“Because I was there when it happened. The witch that cursed Kate was my wife and the Alpha that bit her…”

“Your mom.” Stiles whispered, looking up at Derek, “Holy shit.”

Derek’s face was clouded with emotion. Stiles knew Derek would have been upset about Kate alone, but to learn that his mom was the one who bit her in the first place? Stiles couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going through Derek’s head. Stiles leaned in a little closer to Derek, feeling him loosen up a little at the contact.

“How did you figure it out?” Derek asked, his voice rough, “She didn’t do anything to you, did she?”

Stiles quickly shook his head, “No, nothing like that. I was catching Erica and Lydia up to speed on…everything and when we got to Kate I remembered how Lydia reacted the first day she met her.”

“It was like I sensed her before she even got into the room,” Lydia said, “it felt like death was everywhere. I never got over that feeling whenever I was around her, and I felt the same thing when we were attacked in the library.”

“It was easy for me to put things together after that,” Stiles began, “a lot of stuff didn’t make sense, like how Kate seemed to know things she shouldn’t, how she always looked at me from across rooms like she could hear what I was saying. It wasn’t too big of a leap to get to Rougarou from there, especially when Laura said she found Peter so far outside of town on the same night we were attacked.”

“Who is he?” Peter asked, his voice colored with amusement.

“Oh, right, hi.” Stiles leaned around Derek, “We haven’t met, obviously. I’m Stiles. Stilinski.”

“Stilinski as in the Sheriff?” Peter asked, “My Laura, maybe you aren’t so terrible at being an Alpha after all, insinuating yourself into local law enforcement with such a close connection. Or, rather, it looks like Derek is the one insinuating himself inside something.”

Derek growled, “Shut. Up.”

Stiles looked between Derek and Peter, both their eyes electric blue, and was unsure of exactly what to do. It was obvious that there were some lingering family issues in play, though Stiles had expected Laura and Derek to be overjoyed at reuniting with a piece of their family. It made Stiles realize just how little he actually knew about the two of them.

“Perhaps it would be best if you all saw yourselves out and we let Peter get some rest,” Deaton spoke up, stepping between Derek and Peter’s line of sight on each other, “Laura, I’ll keep an eye on him for the next day or so and call you when he’s back to himself.”

Peter rolled his eyes, “I am myself, this is what half a decade of abandonment and catatonia does to someone.”

Laura flinched just before Derek clasped his hand in Stiles’ and pulled him towards the door of the basement. Erica and Lydia followed quickly behind them, while Laura lingered a brief second more before trailing up the stairs. No one spoke until they were outside in the parking lot, circled in front of the Camaro.

“He seems…nice?” Erica offered with a small shrug.

“Has he always been like that?” Stiles asked hesitantly.

Laura shook her head, “He’s always been a handful, but he’s never been like that.”

Derek scoffed and glared at the ground. Stiles wasn’t sure if he should reach out in comfort or if that would make Derek pull away even more. Laura’s hand fell on his shoulder, squeezing slightly, but Derek shook it off and glared at the ground.

“A _handful_.” Derek’s eyes were blue again.

“Stiles mentioned that you thought Peter was taken by a witch, if he knew about Kate being whatever she is, was that the reason he was taken?” Lydia asked, providing a needed distraction.

Laura looked at Lydia as if she was trying to assess her, “I don’t think that’s something you should be worrying about.”

“Bullshit.” Lydia rolled her eyes, “Stiles already told me that you wanted to use whatever I can do to try to track that thing down when you thought it was your uncle, you don’t get to brush off any questions I have now that you know it’s some crazy bitch instead.”

Stiles froze, his eyes focusing in on Laura for a reaction. He expected anger, possibly a flash of red eyes, but he didn’t expect to see a smile, or for Laura to start laughing a second later.

“I like you.”

“Good.”

Laura collected herself, “We thought Peter was being held captive by whatever witch was controlling the Rougarou, but now that we know Kate is the Rougarou and the witch that created her is dead then it doesn’t make sense. When the witch that created a Rougarou dies, the Rougarou essentially becomes a free agent with decreased power according to Deaton.”

“It sure didn’t seem like Kate has had any decreased power any of the times I’ve seen her fight.” Stiles said.

“Exactly.” Laura said, “Think of how much stronger she would be with a witch behind her.”

Derek finally spoke, “Peter said he was able to make it out of the house alive because someone broke the mountain ash line to get Kate out. He said he was in and out of it and didn’t see who removed her, but he came to just before the house collapsed. If there was no witch controlling Kate, that means that whatever witch has been messing with Peter for the last few years is someone else entirely and might not even be connected to anything to do with Kate or the Rougarou.”

“Jesus.” Stiles sighed, “How did Peter get away?”

“He said he felt the magic holding him weaken so he took his chance and ran. Apparently, he followed his nose and it led him to Laura.” Derek rolled his eyes.

“Peter and Mariska made a lot of enemies over the years, they did the things that mom couldn’t or wouldn’t do. It’s possible that whatever was happening to Peter was part of a different plan of revenge from someone else who took advantage of the state he was in. Deaton thinks that whoever was doing this to him got spooked by our return and used the distraction of the Rougarou to take Peter.” Laura said, leaning against the hood of the Camaro.

“So, we have Kate, who is a hunter and a Rougarou. Then we have more actual hunters, including Allison who may or may not sell us all down the river. _And_ we have a mystery second witch who may try to kill us all because we stole Peter back from them.” Stiles took a deep breath and turned to Lydia and Erica, “Welcome to the party!”

“You’re both free to forget any of this ever happened. Hell, I’d probably prefer it.” Laura sighed, “Regardless of what you decide, you have my protection.”

“As if I could ever forget any of this.” Erica laughed.

Lydia nodded, “I’m not going to get any answers sitting around doing nothing.”

Stiles grinned, ribbing Derek with his elbow, “Look at this, our little Pack is all grown up.”

“There’s still only two Betas.” Derek grumbled.

“Derek has a point,” Laura said, “Packs are fine with humans, but they don’t increase the strength of an Alpha/Beta bond.”

“Stiles mentioned that the bite cures illnesses,” Erica said quietly, “he said that’s why you bit Scott? Because he was having an asthma attack and was about to die?”

Laura nodded.

“Do you…” Erica trailed off, “Would it fix my epilepsy?”

Stiles could see the moment Laura realized what Erica was asking.

“Erica…” Laura took a deep breath, “The bite would help, yes. But I bit Scott because there was no other choice, it was a last resort. I’d be happy to talk to you more about the bite, explain the benefits and risks in more detail than I was able to with Scott. If you listen to everything and you still want it, then I would gladly give it to you. When you turn 18.”

“18?” Erica sounded surprised.

Laura nodded, “My mother…it was one of her rules. She wouldn’t turn anyone under the age of 18 unless it was an emergency. If your illness gets worse, or it really makes living your life impossible, then we can talk about it sooner, but things generally go smoother for a bitten wolf once they are a bit older.”

“Oh.” Erica’s head dropped.

Laura frowned, stepping forward and dropping a hand onto Erica’s shoulder and waiting to speak until Erica looked up at her, “Why don’t we get together later? We can talk privately and see what kind of agreement we can come to.”

Erica’s mood improved in a matter of seconds, “That would be awesome.”

Laura grinned, squeezing her shoulder once before letting go, “Now for the less exciting part.”

“Oh god.” Stiles groaned.

“Scott should probably be here for this.” Derek said, looking at Stiles.

Stiles shrugged, “He told me his mom was keeping him locked in the house after last night. I only got out because my dad was asleep when I left.”

“My parents don’t care either way.” Lydia shrugged.

“And mine were just happy that I have friends, regardless of the fact that I almost got eaten last night.”

“Anyway,” Laura’s voice cut above everyone else, “Derek told me what he heard the Sheriff saying this morning at Stiles’ house.”

Erica grinned and waggled her eyebrows in Stiles and Derek’s direction. Lydia made a face that silent conveyed that Stiles would have a lot of explaining to do later. Derek sighed, long suffering.

“Oh shit,” Stiles gasped, turning to Erica and Lydia again, “I completely forget in the middle of everything else.”

“What?” They asked in unison.

“Jackson remembers seeing Derek at the library.”

Lydia’s face was completely blank, “You forget to mention _that_?”

“Really, Stilinski?” Erica’s mouth was slack, “That seems like an important fact to forget to tell us.”

“Hey!” Stiles protested, “There was a lot of shit to cover!”

“It might not be that bad,” Derek said, “It sounded like the Sheriff didn’t believe him, or that he didn’t trust Jackson’s story because of his head trauma.”

“Which is good for us.” Laura said, “But we also have to be prepared for it to go the other way. If Jackson can convince the Sheriff that what he’s saying is true, it falls back on all of you. You all lied in your statements, and the Sheriff is going to want to know why. Derek has already been a suspect in one murder committed by Kate, I don’t want it to happen again.”

Stiles could only look at his feet while everyone talked around him. He couldn’t even focus on what they were saying, he was too busy fighting an internal battle with himself. The things Derek said he heard this morning had been playing on a loop in his mind, his dad talking to his mom in the kitchen. Derek hadn’t told him exactly what was said, but Stiles was smart enough to figure out things just from the context clues. Stiles had been hurting his dad for the last few weeks, running around all hours of the night, fucking up his investigations, and lying about important things.

It had only made things worse. His dad hated Derek, didn’t trust him and thought he was a murderer. He didn’t like Laura. All the lies had piled on top of each other and fucked up everything, maybe any possible relationship his dad could have with the two people who had become pretty fucking important in his life. Stiles had no intention of losing Derek or Laura.

Stiles made his decision, “We have to tell him.”

The group fell silent. Derek and Laura looked at each other, a private conversation playing in their eyes, until Derek finally spoke.

“Tell him what?”

Stiles took a deep breath, “Everything. Starting with the first night Laura got here.”

Derek stepped back, obviously deferring the call to Laura.

“Are you sure?” Laura asked, “It might make things easier for us to operate, but I know how much your dad means to you.”

“All the lies have already messed up enough,” Stiles shook his head, “I’ve been so worried about the danger my dad could be in if he found out, I didn’t stop to think of all the damage I’ve been doing to our relationship by trying to keep him safe. Plus, if he knows then he can protect himself better. What would happen if he just came across Kate one night on patrol? He’d have no idea what to do.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to have the police on our side.” Laura nodded.

“Assuming he would even be on our side,” Derek said, “you know how he feels about us.”

Stiles sighed, “He only feels that way because he doesn’t know what’s going on. He assumes the worst because he doesn’t know the truth.”

Stiles held his breath while he waited for Laura to decide. He could barely believe the 180 he was doing himself, but after everything that had happened it seemed obvious that telling his dad would only help them in the long run rather than hurt them.

“OK.” Laura said, “We tell him.”

Stiles breathed out a sigh of relief, only to realize he had no idea how to actually have that conversation with his dad? Should he be eased into it? Should he come home to find Laura and Derek sitting in the living room? Should one of them just shift in front of him while Stiles yells ‘Surprise! Werewolves!’?

“If we’re telling the Sheriff then we should probably tell Scott’s mom too.” Laura said, “They’re close, right?”

Stiles’ eyes went wide. He hadn’t even thought of that.

“Shit…” Stiles whispered, “Yeah. Once he finds out about Scott he’s going to ask if Melissa knows and he wouldn’t want to lie to her either.”

“Does Scott even want his mom to know?” Lydia asked.

Everyone turned to Stiles.

Stiles shrugged, “We both just assumed we didn’t want our parents to know, I don’t know how he actually feels.”

“I’ll talk to Scott, tell him what we talked about today and see what he thinks. If he’s fine with his mom knowing then I’ll have the conversation with the two of them, and Derek and Stiles can have the conversation with the Sheriff.”

“What?” Derek yelped.

Erica’s smile turned into an evil grin, “Which conversation are we talking about, cuz I think there’s more than one.”

Derek growled. Stiles flicked him on the ear.

“You don’t get to growl at my friends.”

Derek hunched his shoulders and glared at Laura.

Laura raked a hand through her hair, “I’m Scott’s Alpha, the talk about him being a werewolf because I bit him should come from me. It would be easier to have both these conversations at the same time, that way they can talk to each other afterwards instead of stewing in their anger or confusion.”

“The Sheriff hates me.” Derek said, for the hundredth time, “He’s not going to listen to anything I have to say.”

Stiles patted him on the back, “Which is why I will do all the talking and you can fill in the bits I don’t know. You’ll also double as show and tell for the part where dad gets all huffy and sanctimonious about werewolves not being real.”

“He’s going to shoot me.”

Laura grinned, “You’ll heal.”

 

X

 

Scott sat on the picnic table in the middle of the park. He leaned back on his arms and closed his eyes as the sun hit his face. His hair had grown a little longer than usual, and he realized in all the chaos of the last few weeks he hadn’t even thought of getting it cut.

“Hey.” Allison said softly.

Scott jumped, surprised at her quiet arrival. He was even more surprised that he didn’t smell her before she even made it halfway across the park. It was weird, and Scott was sure he’d never tell her, but he could always pick out Allison’s scent no matter how many other people were around.

Scott opened his eyes and saw Allison with a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

“Sorry.” Allison said when she recovered, “I forgot what I was wearing would throw off your senses too. I’m still trying to come to grips with all of this.”

“What your wearing?” Scott asked, because even though he was head over heels for Allison the fact that she was wearing something that made her virtually undetectable seemed like something Laura would want to know.

Allison chewed on her bottom lip for a second, her fingers sliding along a thin silver chain around her neck. She took a deep breath and hooked her index finger around the chain and pulled the necklace out from under her shirt. It was a simple silver chain, but at the end there was a small pouch that looked like burlap. She pulled it over her head and held it out towards Scott just as the wind blew. Scott began to rapidly sneeze as an unpleasant scent filled his nose, it was like onions mixed with cinnamon powder and peppermint.

Allison put the necklace back on and tucked it under her shirt again, “I probably shouldn’t have shown you that…but I’ve done a lot of things I probably should have done in the last day.”

“It’s a mixture of herbs.” Allison said, quickly adding, “No wolfsbane, don’t worry.”

Scott laughed at the odd consideration.

“Dad thought I should wear it just incase that thing from last night decided it wanted to go for round two.”

“How are you?” Scott asked, “You were pretty beat up.”

Allison shrugged, “I’ve got a pretty wicked bruise on my back and a few stiches here and there, but nothing too crazy.”

“Good.” Scott said, “You were incredible last night.”

Allison blushed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “I mean, I guess. I managed to get everyone out, but I almost died. I would have died if it wasn’t for you. So…thanks. I thought I made peace with it in the moment but…”

Scott hesitantly reached out and touched her hand, “Hey.”

Allison looked up, her eyes a little wet, “Hi.”

“I’m sorry you had to find out that way.” Scott said, “I want to tell you before, but I couldn’t. But I heard you scream and I just…I couldn’t let you die either.”

“It was a lot to take in.” Allison admitted.

“Did you tell your dad?” Scott asked quietly.

Allison shook her head, “As far as he knows, everyone was out of the building before I got into the fight with the Rougarou.”

“You really lied to him for us?”

Allison shook her head, “I lied to him for you. I don’t have any allegiances to the Hales but I know that they’re not involved with whatever that is. And I know you, I know you’d never hurt anyone. You probably didn’t choose this, it’s not your fault.”

“I did choose this.” Scott said, feeling the need to protect Laura.

“What?” Allison’s eyes went wide.

Scott took a deep breath, “Stiles and I were out in the preserve a few weeks ago when the Rougarou attacked us. We ran from it but we were just humans so we weren’t fast enough. Laura and Derek showed up and saved us, they fought it off and we were able to get away. But all the running triggered an asthma attack and I lost my inhaler.”

Allison’s jaw was hanging open slightly, but she nodded for Scott to continue.

“I would have died out there. There wasn’t any time to get me to the hospital, and I could tell that I was dying. It was scary as hell. Laura offered me the bite to save me. She explained it the best she could so I’d know what I was getting into. It’s terrifying sometimes, but I’m alive, y’know?”

“You don’t regret it?” Allison asked, “Which sounds stupid to ask because you were dying, but I’ve always been told that most of the time people don’t _ask_ for the bite, it just happens.”

Scott thought carefully before he answered, “Sometimes I was I was still human, like when I wake up in the middle of the night and don’t even recognize myself because I have claws and fangs. But sometimes I’m happy with who I am now. I don’t have asthma anymore, I don’t have to worry about not telling my mom I’m sick so we don’t spend money we don’t have. I’m strong enough to protect the people I care about. There’s pro’s and con’s, but I don’t think there’s any use wishing something happened differently because I can’t control that.”

Allison was silent for a few seconds, only blinking, until she spoke, “That was…really sweet.”

Scott laughed, feeling his cheeks heat up, and with no heat behind the words at all, “Shut up.”

Allison laughed and sat down at the table, her arm brushing against Scott’s, “How long have you known about me?”

“Since a few days after the bite.”

“You’ve known about my family this whole time and you’ve still been alone with me?” Allison asked, shocked, “Laura didn’t tell you to not be around me?”

Scott shook his head, “She told me about your family, and about a few other things, but she never told me I couldn’t see you. I think she knew that it would make me do the opposite. She watched us a few times just to make sure I was safe, nothing weird or anything, but she didn’t try and stop me.”

“Wow.”

Scott smiled at her, “The only person that tried to stop me was Stiles, but he was just worried about me. And to be fair, you did shoot him with an arrow.”

Allison gasped, “Oh my god, I feel terrible about that. I never would have if I’d have known it was you two! That night was just…hectic.”

“You might want to apologize to him a few more times,” Scott said simply, “Stiles knows how to hold a grudge.”

“Thanks for the advice.”

The air between them grew still in a pleasant way. Scott was content to sit there with Allison at his side as the wind blew across the park. He felt something brush against the back of his hand and looked down, smiling when he saw Allison’s pinky swiping over his hand. Scott opened his hand, palm up, and Allison slid her hand inside.

“The Hale’s aren’t brain washing you, are they?” Allison asked suddenly.

Scott laughed, “I don’t think so? That’s not a wolf power that I don’t know about, right?”

“No.” Allison shook her head, “It’s just that…aunt Kate talked about them like they were rabid monsters. It’s why she took the job at the school, she knew they were back in town and figured that we might need help if there was an out of control Alpha in town. But from everything I’ve seen and heard, they don’t seem that bad. From how you talked about Laura to how Derek was when he was protecting Stiles.”

Scott took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure how to go with this conversation. Sure, Allison might not see him as a crazy monster, but he doubted she would listen to him when it came to Kate.

“How well do you know Kate?” Scott settled on asking.

“Not very well,” Allison shrugged, Scott’s hand moving upwards with the motion of her arm, “She’s out of the country a lot on hunts and she doesn’t spend a lot of time with my dad. She’s usually with my grandpa, Gerard. This is the longest I’ve ever spent with her, the rest of them time it was usually just a week or two every year. She’s taught me a lot, but we’re not very close. Why?”

Scott chewed on his bottom lip, “Just…from what I’ve heard…I think there might be a reason why she would want to make you think bad about the Hales.”

“Why would aunt Kate want that?”

“I know there’s a code when it comes to Hunters…but I just don’t think she always follows it.”

“Why would you say that?”

Scott was relieved that Allison didn’t sound angry, just confused.

“Some of it you should talk to Laura for, it’s her place to tell you,” Scott said, “But I know she lied the Sheriff about Derek and accused him of killing Mr. Harris right before the full moon, and she attacked Laura and Derek for no reason the other night.”

Allison’s eyes were wide, “Kate would never turn a werewolf into local law enforcement.”

Scott frowned, “Stiles read Kate’s statement, it was her. Derek couldn’t have done it, it was the same night we were attacked in the woods. Stiles had to go into his dad and lie to give Derek and alibi.”

“I don’t understand.” Allison said, looking Scott directly in the eye.

“You have to promise me you won’t say anything to Kate and that you’ll talk to Laura before you do anything.” Scott said, “Please.”

Allison was quiet for a moment before nodding, “OK, but just because I trust you.”

“Thank you.” Scott said, leaning in quickly to kiss her on the cheek.

Allison laughed as Scott pulled away. His phone vibrated, and he check it, reading a text from Laura telling him it was urgent and she needed to talk to him.

“I have to go.” Scott frowned.

Allison nodded, unlacing their fingers, “Me too. My dad didn’t want me out too long.”

“I’ll tell Laura you want to talk to her?” Scott asked.

“Yeah,” Allison said, “but only if you’re there too.”

Scott grinned, “I’ll see what I can do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is hella chill compared to the last two, but this and the next chapter are mostly transitional stuff that would have been a part of one longer chapter if i'd had less of a stressful week. i don't want to promise the next chapter for next week just because my mom is having surgery on monday so i have to be around while she recovers and i don't know how much downtime i'll have to write but i'll try to pull something together!


	28. Before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the crazy wait, it's been a hectic last two weeks

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Before

 

Laura pocketed her phone before entering the supermarket. She’d gotten Scott’s reply that he’d be home in about half an hour, and that his mom wouldn’t be home for another hour after that. It was plenty of time to talk with Scott about telling his mom and to fill him in on everything else that had happened in the last few hours.

Laura decided that conversation needed cookies.

She grabbed a cart and made a beeline to the bakery section. She’d always loved going to the store with her mom as a kid, the bakery section lit up her senses like almost nothing else. Laura could still remember how hard her mom laughed when she told her that the smell of fresh baked cookies was like fireworks for her nose.

In the middle of an internal struggle of deciding between chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies, a soft voice came from behind Laura.

“Alpha Hale?”

Laura froze, barely containing claws that threatened to tear into the plastic containers in her hand. She had to remember where she was, in public surrounded by humans. If Laura couldn’t do anything, neither could the person behind her. She was still on guard though, turning slowly but keeping her eyes their normal color.

The woman standing in front of her was the exact opposite of a threat. She held herself like a victim, like she was scared Laura was going to reach out and hurt her without warning. Her arms were wrapped protectively around her body, and her hair was a mess of blonde curls tied together in a ponytail that looked oddly familiar to Laura.

“Who are you?” Laura asked.

The woman swallowed, her heartbeat fluttering, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come up to you here.”

Laura slowly sat both boxes of cookies in her shopping cart, “But you did, so who are you?”

“My name is Karolina.” The woman said.

“Karolina.” Laura repeated, the name not registering with her, “How do you know who I am?”

Karolina hesitated for a brief second before answering, “I knew your mother.”

Laura barely contained a flinch. She hadn’t been prepared for that answer.

“Oh.”

Karolina smiled briefly, “We weren’t close, but she always made a point to say hello if we were near each other.”

“And you obviously knew what she was,” Laura said, “What I am?”

“You’re the Alpha.”

At least that was out of the way.

“It’s nice to meet you, Karolina.” Laura smiled, “I’m happy that you remember my mother.”

“She was a wonderful woman.” Karolina said, “She once made me a promise, it was something I never forgot.”

Laura stared at her, narrowing her eyes as she swept over Karolina’s face. Laura had an idea of what direction she thought the conversation was going, and it wasn’t one that she wanted to have in the middle of the supermarket. Especially when she had other things to attend to.

“My mother offered you the bite.” Laura said, because there was no sense in beating around the bush.

Karolina’s reaction was not what Laura had expected. Her eyes went wide with panic and she began to frantically shake her head.

“No!” Karolina breathed, “No, not me.”

Laura took a step backwards, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.”

Karolina’s heart slowly settled back to a normal rhythm, “She didn’t offer the bite to me. She offered it to my daughter.”

Laura, for once in her life, was speechless.

Karolina frowned, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you. This was not a good idea.”

Laura’s brain jumpstarted itself just as Karolina turned to leave. She put herself in her mother’s shoes. There was no way her mother would have offered to bite some random woman’s kid unless she trusted her. And even then, she would have only offered if it was a situation that required it.

“Karolina, wait.” Laura said, stepping forward to stop her, “I’m sorry, I just didn’t expect that answer.”

Karolina stopped, but didn’t turn back around.

Laura checked her watch. She still had a bit of time before she had to be at Scott’s.

“Would you like to go somewhere else to talk?” Laura asked, “Maybe this isn’t the most comfortable setting.”

“We can talk at the park across the street?” Karolina asked.

“Sure,” Laura said, “Just let me check out and I’ll come meet you there.”

Karolina nodded and walked towards the front of the store. Laura let out a long breath and gripped the front of her cart. This was the last conversation she’d expected to have today, and she was already feeling drained from it.

Karolina looked younger than her mother, so it must have meant that her daughter wasn’t even a teenager when Talia was still alive. There were very few situations where her mother would have offered a bite to someone that young. Karolina’s daughter must be sick. She also must still be alive if she’s looking to Laura to make good on the promise from her mother.

Laura checked out, getting both boxes of cookies, and deposited the bags in the trunk of the Camaro before walking across the street. Karolina was sitting at a small table, watching a group of kids run around the small playground to her left.

“I used to be the member of a pack.” Karolina said as soon as Laura sat down.

And boy was this woman full of surprises.

“You’re a human.” Laura said, though it was stating the obvious.

Karolina nodded, “The Alpha…was not a good man. He abused his power in ways that would make you sick to your stomach. He led with fear and intimidation, and anyone who questioned him was killed.”

Laura’s stomach lurched. She’d heard about Alphas who abused their power, but she’d never actually spoke to someone who lived through it. She couldn’t even comprehend what would make someone do that.

“I ran away, as far away as I could.” Karolina said softly, “I settled down here and I kept running into Talia all over town. I could tell she was a wolf just from the way she moved. She eventually noticed me watching her and came up to introduce herself. I was terrified.”

“You thought she was going to hurt you?” Laura asked.

Her mother was never violent with humans, unless they were hunters, and she hardly ever lost her temper. But with Karolina’s history, any wolf speaking to her was probably a terrifying experience.  

“She could tell I knew what she was, and she knew I was afraid of her.” Karolina said, “She bought me lunch though, and we talked. I told her about everything, more than I’d ever told anyone in my life. She said she’d heard about the pack I came from, and she told me that everyone in it was dead. Hunters eventually got to them.”

Laura didn’t know if she should apologize for the loss or feel happiness.

“Talia told me that as long as I was in Beacon Hills I would have her protection. She offered to let me join your pack, but I couldn’t. I knew your mother was a kind woman who would never hurt me, but I couldn’t live with wolves anymore.”

“I understand.” Laura said softly.

“I met a wonderful man a few months later, had a child, married him.” Karolina was smiling now, “I slowly got back to something of a normal life. I still saw Talia around town, we still spoke, and then we found out my daughter was sick.”

Laura waited for Karolina to continue.

“I spoke to Talia about her. Talia offered my daughter the bite, on the condition that we waited as long as we possibly could before we resorted to that measure. I…I didn’t want my daughter to become a werewolf, but it was better than not having her at all. She was only a seven at the time that Talia made her offer, and Talia wanted to wait until she was at least a teenager if she could.”

“That sounds like my mom.” Laura smiled, “She didn’t like turning anyone who was young.”

“My daughter was doing well, so well that I thought we wouldn’t have to resort to the bite. Then the fire happened…”

Laura swallowed, “And you knew it wasn’t an option anymore.”

Karolina nodded, her eyes wet with tears, “She was doing well until she started high school. Her seizures got worse, the stopped responding to the medication, and the kids were just so terrible to her. I was lost, I didn’t know what to do. We’ve spent the last few years just waiting for something terrible to happen.”

The pieces snapped together quickly, and Laura kicked herself for not realizing who Karolina was.

“Karolina Reyes?” Laura said, just to be sure, “Your daughter is Erica.”

Karolina nodded with a smile. “You do know her.”

Laura was stunned into silence for the second time in just a few minutes. She didn’t know what to say. She’d just talked to Erica about giving her the bite, and now she was having the same conversation with her mother. And Erica had no idea that her mother even knew about werewolves.

“I thought she might have been involved with your pack somehow,” Karolina said, “I’m not stupid, I know what the murders around town are. And I saw the way Erica looked when I picked her up at the police station after the library, she had the same look in her eyes as I did the first time I saw a werewolf.”

“I’m sorry, it was never my intention for anyone else to get involved in this. It’s all spiraled out of control.” Laura said.

Karolina shook her head, “I don’t blame you. Erica is a stubborn girl, she would have figured out something sooner or later if she kept meeting up with your pack members. She’s been happier than I’ve seen her in a long time, she comes home with a smile and talks to me about her friends. It’s everything I could have wished for. I know, realistically, that being in a pack is not a bad thing. It’s another family and I don’t want my experiences to take something away from Erica, especially if it can save her life.”

“In the interest of full disclosure,” Laura began, “I just spoke to Erica about the bite, she asked me for it and wants it as soon as possible. She’s seen what it did for another Beta, a boy I bit so he wouldn’t die in front of me, and she wants it for herself. I told her that I wanted to try and follow my mother’s rules unless there was an exception and we agreed to talk about it more on out own. I’d never bite her without your consent though.”

“I appreciate your honesty.” Karolina smiled, “You’re every bit the Alpha that your mother said you would be.”

Laura’s mouth went dry, “She talked about me?”

Karolina nodded, grinning, “She loved you very much. She told me that I could always come to you incase anything ever happened to her, that you would uphold all her values in her place. I’m glad to see that she was right.”

Laura took a deep breath, fighting back tears. She wasn’t going to cry, not sitting on a bench in the middle of the park with a woman she barely knew.

“I think you should talk to Erica, you can give her more insight than even I could.” Laura said to Karolina, “With everything that is going on in town, I wouldn’t feel comfortable giving her the bite until it’s settled. There’s too many things in play now for me to worry about another freshly turned Beta. I’m not saying no, I’m just saying not right now.”

Karolina was quiet before nodding, “I understand. I’d never ask you to take on something you didn’t feel was right in the moment. I’ll talk to Erica.”

Laura smiled, “In the meantime, Erica is free to spend time with my pack and I would gladly take up the offer of protection my mother gave to you as well.”

“I think I’m past needing protection, but I appreciate it.” Karolina pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to Laura.

Laura turned it over and found a phone number. She assumed it was Karolina’s and folded it and placed it in her pocket.

“I’ll call you soon to talk more about this.” Laura said.

“Thank you.”

 

X

 

Derek watched Stiles as he paced across the living room. He seemed to be unable to sit still, constantly bouncing off the furniture in a way that reminded Derek of an old DVD player idle animation. Stiles scrubbed his hand over his head, fingers carding through the hair that had grown an inch or two since they first met. Derek thought of running his fingers through Stiles’ hair and decided that he liked the idea of Stiles growing it out.

“Sit down, Stiles.”

Stiles stopped, flapping his arms out to the side, “I’m sorry we can’t all be cool, calm, and collected like you, _Derek_.”

Derek sighed, pushing himself up from the recliner and walking over to Stiles. Stiles watched him, eyes tracking Derek as he stepped around the coffee table.

“What’re you doing?” Stiles huffed.

Derek didn’t answer, he only placed both his hands-on Stiles’ hips and picked him up off his feet. Stiles flailed, letting out a sound that was rather undignified. Derek took two steps across the living room and deposited Stiles into the recliner that Derek was previously sitting in. Stiles stared up at him with wide eyes as Derek took a step backwards.

“Stay.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, bracing both hands on the arms of the chair and attempting to push himself up. Derek sighed and reached out, placing his index finger in the center of Stiles chest and pushing him lightly back down into the chair.

“I will sit on you if you don’t stay in that chair.”

Stiles’ face instantly turned red, “You know that’s not terribly effective as far as threats go, and it’s probably not that good of an idea either unless you also want to reveal to my dad that you give me boners.”

Derek choked on the air, “ _Stiles_ , Jesus Christ.”

Stiles shrugged, “I’m just saying, if you don’t want my dad to shoot you then it would probably be best if he doesn’t come home to you on top of his son.”

Derek sighed and walked over to the closest wall, lightly banging his head against it repeatedly, “I regret everything about this.”

“Do you think it’s some kind of cosmic sign that my dad and Mrs. McCall were both at the grocery store when I called?” Stiles asked, “Like, what are the chances of the both of them just deciding to go grocery shopping at the same time on their days off? And then they’re talking to each other right when I call him to ask when he’s going to be home?”

“I think you’re thinking too much.” Derek said, smiling a bit.

Stiles narrowed his eyes, “Why aren’t you nervous about this?”

Derek walked over to the couch and dropped down into it. He leaned back so his head was resting on a pillow and he rolled to the side, taking in the lingering scent of Stiles that was almost as much a part of the sofa as anything else.

“I am.” Derek said.

Derek was more than nervous, he was terrified. His entire body felt electric, like it was warning him that this was a bad idea. That the Sheriff would take this all horribly, stop Stiles from being with the pack, or worse, go directly to the Argents for help.

But Derek knew he was catastrophizing, at least when it came to the last part. The Sheriff was a good man, a little rough around the edges, but good. He wouldn’t try to _kill_ Derek or Laura. He could try and stop Stiles from seeing them, but Derek knew that Stiles would always find a way around it. Not that Derek wanted Stiles to chose him over his dad, it’s just that Derek couldn’t imagine a life without Stiles in it somehow.

He didn’t want to.

Scott had agreed to telling his mom about an hour ago, and so Derek had been sitting with Stiles in his living room for the last hour, silently trying to keep his cool while Stiles vaulted through about 55 different moods.

Derek’s head perked up as he heard the familiar sound of the cruiser turning onto the main road. It was showtime.

“Your dad just pulled onto the road.” Derek said.

Stiles sighed, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“You were the one who wanted to do it.” Derek pointed out.

Stiles glared as he stood up from the chair, “And I never make any bad decisions.”

Derek smirked, “I’ll remind you of that next time you do something stupid to get yourself killed.”

Derek watched Stiles as he moved across the living room. He noted the line of tension running through Stiles’ shoulders and had to consciously keep himself on the couch, so he didn’t try to help Stiles by massaging it out of him. Something told Derek that would not be the greatest start to his talk with the Sheriff.

Derek tensed as he heard the cruiser pull up in the driveway, cringing as the slamming of the door echoed in his ears. He could hear every footfall of the Sheriff’s boots on the driveway, tracking the sound all the way to the front door. The jingle of the keys as the Sheriff flipped through them to find the one through the front door, the scrape of metal as the lock disengaged. The creak of the door as the Sheriff slowly opened it.

“Showtime,” Stiles said under his breath as the door opened, “Hey daddio, need any help with the groceries?”

There was a rustle of plastic bags, and then a deeply resigned sigh, before the Sheriff spoke, “What did you do, Stiles?”

The corner of Derek’s mouth twitched into a small smile.

“I didn’t do anything.” Stiles groaned, “Can a son not just want to help his dad with the groceries?”

The Sheriff was quiet for a moment, “Fine. Take this and put it in the freezer.”

“10-4!” Stiles grabbed the bag and Derek listened as both Stilinski’s made their way into the kitchen.

“Stiles,” The Sheriff’s voice came after Derek heard the fridge open, “why are there three steaks in the fridge?”

Derek sighed, dropping his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. Derek tried to tell him it was the least subtle way to go about things, but according to Stiles everything could be solved with red meat.

“I just figured since you’ve had such a stressful weekend that I’d reward you with something nice.” Stiles’ tone was light and airy.

“First, I’m not a dog. I don’t need to be rewarded.” The Sheriff already sounded exasperated, “Second, I know this is preemptive apology meat so tell me what you did.”

“I told you, I haven’t done anything.” Stiles paused, “Yet.”

“Stiles.”

“Ok, I just want you to keep an open mind before you walk into the living room.

The Sheriff groaned, “Oh god, you didn’t try to redecorate again, did you?”

“I wish.” Stiles muttered under his breath.

Stiles steps grew louder as he broke out into a quick jog, likely to make it into the living room before his father. Derek stood from the chair, rubbing his sweaty palms on the rough denim of his jeans. Why was he so nervous? He was a werewolf for god sake, he should be nervous about talking to a small-town sheriff.

Stiles made it into the living room only fraction of a second before his dad, giving Derek a brief but bright smile and a shaky thumbs up. The Sheriff appeared behind him a moment later, his face going from confused but intrigued, to pissed off but confused. Derek barely suppressed a wince as he heard the change in the Sheriff’s heart, and Derek didn’t miss the way the Sheriff’s trigger finger twitched when they locked eyes.

“Explanation.” The Sheriff’s voice was low, “Now.”

Derek opened his mouth to reply but Stiles beat him to it, stepping in the middle of their line of sight and holding up two placating hands to his father.

“Listen, before you freak out, just promise that you’ll listen to me. Please. There’s a lot that I want to tell you, but I need to know that you’ll trust me and listen to what I say without going all cop on me. I want to talk to my dad, not the Sheriff.”

Derek could pinpoint the moment the Sheriff’s demeanor changed. His posture softened, his hand relaxed from the claw it had formed in absence of a gun, and his eyes got a little softer. Stiles probably didn’t talk like that often, especially not since he’d gotten involved with everything over the last few weeks. Maybe it was exactly what the Sheriff needed to hear.

The Sheriff cleared his throat, “Ok. Why don’t you start by telling me what Derek has to do with all of this?”

Stiles ushered his dad to the couch, starting at him expectantly until he sat down. The Sheriff sighed, but relented and fell to the couch, relaxing an arm across the back of the sofa.

The Sheriff looked at Derek, “I think we should start with why you’re here.”

Derek swallowed and raised his head, looking the Sheriff directly in his eye, “My sister and I…we know things about what has been going on around town for the past few weeks. The murders. Stiles inadvertently got involved the night that Adrian Harris was killed, and everything just snowballed from there.”

The Sheriff leaned forward, “Derek, if you’re about to confess to murder I need to make this a little more official.”

“Dad!” Stiles gasped.

Derek shook his head and tried to give Stiles what he thought was a reassuring smile, “It’s fine. I’m not confessing to any murders. Neither Laura or I have ever killed a human.”

Derek squared his shoulders. This was it. The moment of truth.

Both the Sheriff’s eyebrows shot to his hairline, “I might be getting old, but I’m pretty sure my hearing is still intact. Did you just say you’ve never killed any _humans_?”

Derek nodded, “My sister and I…we’re different.”

“Different?” The Sheriff repeated, “Stiles, is he on drugs? I knew this would be about drugs.”

“Dad!”

Derek took a deep breath, “My entire family, we’ve been around for generations, we come from a long line-”

“Werewolves.” Stiles cut Derek off, “Dad, Derek and Laura are werewolves.”

“Stiles!” Derek hissed.

Stiles ducked his head, “Sorry dude, you were taking too long to get to the point and we were already losing dad.”

“Don’t call me dude.” Derek grumbled.

“Jesus.” The Sheriff scrubbed his hand over his face, “What kind of drugs are we talking? We can get you both help.”

“Dad!” Stiles yelped again, “Seriously? We both know me on drugs would be a terrifying thing.”

This wasn’t how Derek wanted this to go. He planned on slowly putting the pieces together for the Sheriff, laying the groundwork so it would be more believable when he finally told him. Leave it to Stiles to rip the band-aid off in one quick motion.

The Sheriff’s eyes drifted between Stiles and Derek and it looked like he was trying to decide if he should pull out his gun or his handcuffs.

“Derek, do the thing.” Stiles said waving a hand in front of his own face.

“Stiles, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Derek asked.

Stiles nodded, “He’s not going to believe us unless he sees it for real. And he doesn’t have his gun on him so you’re safe.”

“My…Stiles, what the hell has gotten into you?”

Before Stiles had the chance to reply, Derek took a deep breath and let himself shift into his beta form. He closed his eyes, breathing through the change as the bones of his face reshaped themselves. His knuckles cracked as his claws grew, but Derek kept his hands curled into a loose fist, so the Sheriff wouldn’t see them and feel threatened. Derek kept an ear out for the Sheriff heart as he changed, finally locking eyes with him a moment after he completed the shift.

The Sheriff, surprisingly, stayed seated. His eyes went wide, and he leaned forward, looking at Derek like he was a brand-new person.

“What the fuck?” The Sheriff whispered, “Am _I_ on drugs?”

Stiles laughed, “This is your brain on werewolves.”

“Werewolves?” The Sheriff repeated the word, his mouth studying each letter like it was the first word he’d ever learned to say.

“Yes.” Derek shifted back as the Sheriff watched him, “My sister and I are werewolves. Our family was too, it’s why they were killed.”

“The fire…” Th Sheriff trailed off, “I knew it wasn’t an accident.”

“I saw the board,” Stiles said, “I knew you were looking into it, you put it all together. The fire. The murders in town.”

The Sheriff nodded numbly, “Something didn’t seem right. It didn’t take that long to put things together once I pulled the old files after recognizing the names.”

“You thought it was me or Laura.” Derek said, putting the pieces together, “You thought we were going around killing people involved in the fire for revenge.”

“It makes a hell of a lot more sense than werewolves.”

“You’re taking this remarkably well.” Stiles noted.

Derek rolled his eyes.

“I’m in shock.” The Sheriff said, “Also still not entirely sure I’m not on drugs.”

“Not drugs.” Derek said.

“Werewolves.” The Sheriff finished, the word still sounding strange coming out of his mouth, “I get the feeling there’s more that you need to tell me?”

Derek nodded, took a deep breath, and told the Sheriff everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wanted to do more with this chapter, but i figured i'd give you something now and then add what else i wanted into the beginning of next chapter. thanks for all the well wishes about my mom, she's slowly recovering but doing really good!
> 
> i very quickly edited this chapter myself, so if you see anything glaring its just something that i didnt catch in my read through lol


	29. The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing this chapter was like pulling teeth but i finally finished it, sorry its been so long lol
> 
> i just gave this a quick read through for an edit so if there's anything ridiculously wrong with it then oops

 

 

 

 

Chapter 29

The Storm

 

Noah’s world was shaken.

He braced himself against the counter in the kitchen, counting his breaths slowly, one by one, as he tried to wrap his mind around everything that had just been said. He allowed himself a few more seconds of reflection for sighing, taking a swig from the bottle of whiskey next to him, and squaring his shoulders. Noah walked out of the kitchen, pausing at the corner of the hall when he heard hushed voice coming from a few feet away.

Noah couldn’t get close enough to hear what they were saying without making himself know, so he settled on watching Derek and Stiles at a safe distance. They were standing close, closer than Noah would have expected, and he kept his eyes on Stiles’ hands.

Noah knew his son, he knew what Stiles looked like when he was trying very, very hard not to do something. And Stiles was trying very, very hard not to touch Derek Hale.

The night was just full of revelations.

Noah watched as Derek slowly reached out and let his hand wrap around the back of Stiles neck, squeezing slightly. Noah watched as Stiles smiled, small and private, and leaned further into Derek’s space.

Noah pinched the bridge of his nose, took a few steps backwards into the hallway so he was out of view, and deliberately knocked the toe of his boot against the wall. He muttered a half-hearted cuss and returned to the end of the hallway to find Derek and Stiles with about seven more feet of space between them than there had a been a moment before.

“Goodnight, Derek.” Noah said, “Let your sister know that I’ll expect her to drop by my office sometime tomorrow to fill me in on some of the finer points of this whole thing.”

Derek nodded stiffly, “Yes sir. Sheriff. Sir.”

Stiles huffed out a laugh, “Smooth.”

“Stiles.” Derek and Noah warned in unison.

The room went silent, the three of them exchanging wide-eyed glances before Noah bit the bullet and made the first move. He cleared his throat, stepped around Stiles, and opened the front door.

Derek nodded wordlessly, looked back at Stiles one more time, and then slipped out the door.

Surprisingly, instead of going further down the street to where Noah had assumed the Camaro was parked, Derek walked around the side of the house.

“Where is he going?” Noah asked.

Stiles shrugged, “He usually leaves through the woods.”

Noah arched an eyebrow, “Usually?”

Stiles froze, probably just realizing his slip up, “I mean, he’s a werewolf so he’s more at home among the trees and other woodland creatures?”

Noah really wished Claudia was around for this.

Stiles spent a few more seconds staring at the closed door, as if Derek would walk back inside any second, before letting his shoulders slump. He turned on his heel and headed towards the stairs, stretching his arms over his head in an entirely too exaggerated manner, and yawning.

“Stop.” Noah said.

Stiles froze in place, turning slowly again, this time to face his father.

“Sit.” Noah commanded, jamming a finger in Stiles’ direction.

He was slightly surprised at how easily Stiles complied to the order, which was good because Noah felt about five minutes close to that imaginary heart attack Stiles was always fussing over. Noah let Stiles stew in silence for another minute, it was an interrogation technique as old as time itself. It also let Noah have a few precious moments to gather his thoughts.

Noah reflected on everything while he left Stiles to his own thoughts.

It honestly all made sense, and Noah was already connecting the dots to other strange cases in town over the years that were sitting in the Unsolved Mysteries drawer, the name coined by Stiles after being home at sick all day with nothing else to watch.

Strange deaths, nuisance calls, break ins. Puzzle pieces started snapping together one by one. Noah was already planning out his moves for the next day, and most of them included pulling old files and looking at them with a new set of eyes.

Maybe, if everything went well, he could ask Laura for some insight into old cases that had bothered him for years.

“Seriously, dad,” Stiles sighed, finally breaking, “yell at me or something, the silence is killing me.”

Noah laughed softly, “I’m not going to yell, kiddo.”

Stiles’ head moved back a fraction of an inch, “You’re not?”

“I’m not.” Noah shook his head.

“That…was not the reaction I was expecting.”

“I’m upset, and I’m scared,” Noah pinched the bridge of his nose, “but I’m not mad at you for keeping this all a secret. I know why you wanted to, I don’t agree with it, but I know why you did it.”

Stiles’ face fell, “I just didn’t want you to get hurt, dad.”

Noah leaned forward, “And you think I want you to get hurt, Stiles? Imagine all the fear you feel about me getting hurt, and then multiply that by a million. That’s how much I worry about _you_ every single day.”

Stiles sank back into the chair, curling into his body and somehow looking more like the scared and upset kid who lost his mother than he had in a long, long time.

Noah reached out, squeezing Stiles’ knee until he finally made eye contact, “Thank you for telling me now though. I know you could have kept it a secret longer, but the fact that you realized you needed to tell me says a lot about you.”

Stiles’ lips twitched just a fraction of an inch, a hidden smile forming just outside of view.

“What do we do now?” Stiles asked.

Noah shook his head, “We don’t do anything. Not until I’ve spoken to Laura. And Melissa. Jesus, Melissa is probably having a heart attack right now.”

Stiles laughed, “I think she’ll be OK with it once she realizes how much more housework Scott is capable of doing now.”

Noah rolled his eyes and shook his head, “Still, I don’t want any of you, Derek included, running off and doing something stupid.”

“Dad, Derek’s like 22, I don’t think you can include him in your list of parental werewolf rules.”

Noah raised a single eyebrow, realizing now was the time for him to bring up the real elephant in the room.

“Yes, Stiles, Derek is much older. I’m glad you recognize that.”

The color drained from Stiles’ face instantly.

“I mean,” Stiles stuttered, “he’s not that much older than me.”

“Six years is a long time, Stiles.”

“Technically he’s only six years older than me for five more days, the he’s five years older. Five isn’t that big of a difference, it’s only…half a decade?”

Noah sighed, “I’m not going to insult your intelligence by assuming you don’t realize how bad that sounded.”

“There’s nothing to _sound_ bad, dad.”

Noah stared at Stiles, blank face unflinching.

“Right.” Stiles whispered, “No insulting anyone’s intelligence.”

Noah took a deep breath to buy himself time. He knew he needed to tread carefully, they were dealing with two separate conversations at the same time. It wasn’t that Noah was completely blindsided by the fact that Stiles was apparently interested in a guy, he’d had the suspicion for a while now that Stiles might be playing both sides of the field, but he never would have expected the first guy that Stiles liked would be a 22-year-old werewolf guy.

“There’s something there?” Noah asked, leaving it up to Stiles to elaborate on.

Stiles closed both of his eyes, and then slowly opened one, cringing, “Sort of? Kind of? Maybe?”

“OK.” Noah kept his voice even. It was more of a confirmation than he’d expected.

“There’s something, but there’s nothing that is being done about it.” Stiles rushed out, “Does that satisfy you?”

Noah thought about it for a few seconds. It didn’t satisfy him, but it was an honest answer and Noah was about tapped out as far as life changing conversations went for the night.

“For now.” Noah said finally, “But you’ll tell me when that nothing becomes something, are we clear?”

“Yes.” Stiles said quickly, nodding.

“And I will be talking to Derek about this something.”

Stiles groaned, “Can it wait until after we catch the evil serial killer?”

“We’ll see.” Noah shook his head, smiling softly, “Now go upstairs and go to bed, you have school in the morning.”

Stiles quickly pushed himself up from the chair, wrapped Noah into a crushing hug, and then all but ran upstairs. Noah stood rooted in spot until he heard Stiles’ door thunk shut, and then he fell back onto the couch. He let out a long breath and looked up at the ceiling. Claudia’s face flashed before his eyes and he wondered just what in the hell she would think about all of this.

Noah smiled, Claudia would think all of this was awesome.

A buzzing sound on the table drew Noah’s attention, he reached forward and grabbed his phone and sighed when he read who the text was from. He took a deep breath, and then called Melissa.

“Werewolves? Seriously?” Melissa asked the second she picked up the phone.

Noah laughed, “Tell me about it.”

 

X

 

Laura nervously paced outside of the Sheriff’s door. She could hear him on the phone and she didn’t want to interrupt him, but all that did was give her time to work herself up with even more nervous energy. She had a feeling her talk with the Sheriff wasn’t going to be nearly as easy as it was with Melissa.

All things considered, Melissa took the news well. Once she realized that Scott would be dead if it wasn’t for the bite there really wasn’t much more she could do besides be happy. Laura tried to explain things the best she could, to tell Melissa how different Scott was and how things wouldn’t be the same anymore, but Melissa was just happy that Scott was alive.

And, oddly, that Scott could do a hell of a lot more chores around the house.

It was a happy night, and Laura walked away feeling like she’d gained another pack member in Melissa.

The Sheriff on the other hand, he still terrified Laura. It didn’t help that Derek wouldn’t tell her more than the simple fact that the Sheriff didn’t shoot him on sight. Derek, for once in his life, had decided to be courteous and let Stiles and his father talk without listening in on them. Laura had a sneaking suspicion that it was more the fact that Derek didn’t want the Sheriff to shoot him once he figured out that Derek wanted to bone his son.

Laura heard the click of the phone on the other side of the door, she slowly lifted her hand up and knocked on the door softly.

“Come in.” The Sheriff said from the other side.

Laura took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She shouldn’t be this nervous, she was a werewolf who’d fought supernatural creatures, for god sake.

She opened the door.

“Laura.” The Sheriff smiled.

It was the exact opposite from the greeting Laura had gotten the last time she was in his office. She felt the tension melt away from her body almost instantly.

“Sheriff.” Laura nodded, “I guess we have a lot to talk about, huh?”

“Understatement of the year.”

Laura sat in the chair opposite him, “I guess I should start by saying it was never my intention to involve Stiles or Scott in this.”

The Sheriff laughed, “I’m aware. I know how…persuasive Stiles can be.”

Laura grinned, “That’s putting it lightly.”

“You don’t have to apologize or justify yourself to me, Laura.” The Sheriff began, “I know what it’s like to make decisions for not only yourself, but for everyone else around you. I know I’ve been hard on you and Derek since you’ve been back in town, and I apologize for that, but it’s only because I wasn’t seeing the bigger picture.”

Laura stared at him, wide eyed and blinking, until she swallowed the lump in her throat, “I…thank you.”

“I won’t lie and say I don’t wish you had told me earlier,” the Sheriff shrugged, “I’m not too crazy about the fact that you used Scott to break into a police evidence van, but I understand why you did it.”

Laura cringed, “I was hoping they’d leave that part out of it.”

The Sheriff laughed again, “Stiles tried to, but I think Derek was too scared of me finding out he lied so he told me himself.”

“Sounds about right.” Laura rolled her eyes.

“In any case, I’m glad I’m in the know now. It will help keep everyone safe.”

Laura nodded, “My mom always wanted to have a relationship with the police in town, she just never knew how to go about it.”

“She was still an active member of the community, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who knew Talia and didn’t love her.”

“Until the Argents came to town.” Laura said bitterly.

The Sheriff’s face turned grim, “I’m still trying to wrap my head around all of that. Kate, who is my son’s teacher, is something I’m not even going to try to pronounce. But her family, herself included, hunts creatures like her. Is there a rule I’m missing somewhere?”

Laura shook her head, “No. It’s the opposite actually, it’s in their code that they kill themselves if they’re ever bitten and in danger of turning.”

“Jesus.” The Sheriff whispered.

Laura rolled her eyes, “It’s just like Kate to be too fucking prideful to follow that rule. She hates us, but she doesn’t blink an eye at using our powers to make herself stronger.”

“Chris Argent doesn’t seem like the kind of sociopath his sister is,” The Sheriff shook his head, “I got bad vibes from Kate the second I met her, but I can’t wrap my head around Chris being like her too.”

Laura hesitated, “If I was ever forced to pick an Argent to be locked in a room with, it would be Chris. He’s intense, but not unreasonable. Victoria is a straight up bitch, but Chris at least tries to follow their bullshit code. It wouldn’t surprise me if Chris didn’t know about Kate, Allison certainly didn’t when she fought her at the library.”

“Never in my life would I have thought about having a conversation with a werewolf about a teenage girl fighting her monster aunt in the town library but here we are.”

“Here we are.”

The Sheriff steered the conversation back on track, “What about Kate’s father? Gerard?”

Laura clenched her fist, “He’s the worst out of all of them. I’d bet my life that he knows about Kate and that he’s taking advantage of her abilities. I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t shown up himself. It would make my job a fuck of a lot easier.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just allude to killing to people in front of me.” The Sheriff rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Laura licked her lips, “You can lock Gerard up if you can get something on him that will stick, but there’s no way anything will hold Kate. Not with what she is now.”

“Stiles mentioned something about some kind of ash?”

Laura nodded, “Mountain ash, it can form a barrier to keep supernatural creatures in or out but unless you want to explain to a judge about why this specific prisoner has to be kept in a special cell then I can’t see how that would work. I’m probably treading on thin ice with this, but there’s no way due process will work for Kate. She doesn’t deserve it either.”

“I’m not going to pretend I understand what you’ve been through,” the Sheriff started, “but whatever happens with Kate Argent I want to make sure you exercise discretion. There’s bound to be a lot of questions if another chemistry teacher shows up dead. And call me, but not from anywhere that might seem odd if someone were to pull phone records for some reason. And you’ve been arrested, so remember that your fingerprints are in the national database now.”

If Laura wasn’t mistaken, it sounded like the Sheriff was giving her his blessing to kill Kate.

“I think I understand?” Laura cocked her head to the side.

“Good. As long as you’re clear on what I was saying.”

Laura nodded. After all, she didn’t necessarily have to be a human when she killed Kate.

The sound of a drawer sliding open drew Laura’s attention again. The Sheriff reached into a drawer on the bottom of his desk and pulled out a thick stack of files. He fanned through them for a moment before turning them around in his hand and sitting them on the edge of the desk closest to Laura. Laura reached out and grabbed them, flipping the first one open and realizing that it was an old police file.

“These are unsolved cases that I’ve set aside over the years, something about all of them seemed off and some of them have bugged me for decades. I was hoping you could look through them and see if you could shine a new light on them, see if there’s anything that I’m not able to see.”

Laura looked at the stack of files and smiled, nodding at the Sheriff. It was the least she could do to thank him for not freaking out over the whole situation. She leafed through the first file, a case from 2004 about a boy who was found just outside of town completely paralyzed and too traumatized to even speak about it. The official report had written it off as a bad reaction to some narcotic, even through nothing had been found in his system.

Laura closed the file and held it up, “This one is easy.”

“Really?” The Sheriff’s eyes were wide, “You figured it out that fast?”

Laura sat the file down on the chair next to her, “So, there’s this thing called a Kanima.”

 

X

 

Stiles craned his head around the bookshelf to his left, just to make sure no one was listening in on his conversation. Scott stood to his right, Lydia and Erica directly across from them. They’d situated themselves in the back of the library near the anatomy books, the only people who ever went back that far were freshmen who wanted to look at the pictures in the books, but Lydia had sent them running with a wicked glare enough times for them to never try coming back.

“We’re just supposed to act like nothing is wrong?” Lydia asked, incredulity filling her voice.

Stiles nodded, “My dad thinks that’s the best way to go, we can’t let Kate know that we know that she’s the Rougarou. She already knows too much about us, so we have to use this advantage.”

Erica sighed, “I should have just stayed home today.”

“At least you don’t have class with the woman who tried to maul your face off a few days ago.” Lydia rolled her eyes.

“Point taken.”

“It’s just until we can come up with a better plan,” Scott added, “Laura thinks that since Peter is back we’ll have an easier time fighting her.”

“Plus,” Stiles said, “now that we’re pretty sure she’s not friends with some crazy witch it evens the playing field a bit more.”

“An Alpha, three betas, a banshee, and two humans.” Eric listed their motley back with her fingers, “Sounds pretty even to me.”

“Stop calling me a banshee,” Lydia folded her arms across her chest, “I don’t like the connotation that word has.”

Erica laughed, resting a hand on Lydia’s shoulder, “I think it loses its roots in sexism when you literally are a banshee though, Lydia.”

“Have you hard from Jackson?” Stiles asked Lydia.

No one had gotten an update since they’d overheard that Jackson had accused Derek of being the person who attacked them. Stiles knew his father was stalling Jackson’s dad, but Lydia would be their greatest source of information.

Lydia shook her head, “I tried to see him yesterday after we talked, but when I got to the hospital his mom told me they had to sedate him because he kept trying to get out of bed.”

“Sounds like Jackson.”

“No mentions of Derek or werewolves?” Erica asked.

“She didn’t say anything about it, but she wouldn’t really have a reason too anyway.” Lydia shrugged.

The bell rang.

Stiles groaned, “One crisis at a time.”

Lydia hefted her purse over her shoulder, “Time to go play teachers pet.”

“Remember,” Scott said, “if we need to say anything important we either text it or write it down and pass a note.”

“Wow, you guys are the picture of clandestine activity. I’m sure the CIA is going to be knocking down your door any second now.”

Stiles glared at her, “Do you have any better ideas?”

“Nope.” Erica shrugged, “I’ll come find you guys when class is over, and we can make a break for it.”

They went their separate ways once they made it out of the library, Erica heading to her class and Scott, Lydia, and Stiles heading towards the Chemistry lab.

“Does anyone else find it weird that Allison didn’t show up today?” Stiles asked.

Scott elbowed him, “She probably just needed an extra day to heal, she doesn’t have super healing like I do, and she fought of Kate more than any of us.”

Stiles held his hands up in surrender, “I was just asking a question.”

The door to the lab came into view.

“No more asking questions unless they have to do with the periodic table.” Lydia said, darting in front of them to make her way into the class first. She sat down at her table directly in front of Scott and Stiles’, and let her bag drop into Allison’s empty seat.

Kate was leaning over her desk to talk to another student, her blouse unbuttoned just enough to show off what was underneath. Stiles rolled his eyes, he couldn’t even find it in himself to be outraged by her behavior anymore, she was almost a caricature of herself now that he knew everything he did.

Kate avoided looking in their direction as she scanned the classroom before turning to the whiteboard. The bell rang, and she started class without even taking attendance. The entire room was quiet, only the sound of the dry erase marker squeaking against the board as she wrote.  

Stiles cast Scott a curious look, and Scott returned it before lightly tapping the back of Lydia’s seat with his foot. Lydia pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and write something quickly on it. She held the paper up over her shoulder, ‘I know’, written out in her easy to read handwriting.

Kate stopped writing, sat the marker down, and turned back to face the class, “Alright. Time for a pop quiz, I hope you’ve been paying attention for the last few weeks. It’s 40 questions, and it’ll probably take up the bulk of class time. If I catch anyone cheating then you’ll have to stay after class and face me. And trust me, you don’t want that.”

The entire class groaned.

Stiles felt his skin crawl, he looked over and saw Scott hunched forward over the desk, like he was ready to throw himself over it and into Kate.

Lydia’s white-knuckle grip on her pencil could be seen even from behind.

Kate sauntered around the room handing out papers, and if Stiles wasn’t sane he’d think her movements looked more and more lupin as she went. She paused at Scott and Stiles’ table, reaching out across the tabletop to slide Scott’s paper in front of him. She withdrew her hand slowly, fingernails scraping against the blacktop of the table. She licked the underside of her middle finger before pulling Stiles’ test paper off the top of the stack. The paper fluttered down from her hand as she dropped it in front of him before moving on to Lydia’s desk. Kate flicked the paper in Lydia’s direction, causing it to fly across the desk and off the other side.

“Sorry.” Kate shrugged before moving on with a smirk.

Lydia glared daggers at Kate’s back before loudly pushing her chair backwards, scraping it across the floor so she could stand and pick up her paper.

The quiz was a fucking joke, they were questions ripped straight out of the text book and most of them had already been part of their homework. Stiles finished the quiz quickly, walked up to Kate’s desk, and sat it directly in the middle of it. Kate met his eyes, grinned, and leaned backwards in her chair.

Lydia finished next, placing her paper in the same spot.

Scott was one of the last to finish. Scott made it up to Kate’s desk and back to the lab table with only a few minutes left in class. They shared a few glances but never for too long because Kate’s eyes hardly ever left one or the other of them.

The bell rang and the entire class stood, gathering their things before heading out of the room. Stiles slung his bag over his shoulder and waited for Scott and Lydia to get their stuff before leaving. Scott hoisted his bag up and stepped out from behind the table just before Kate spoke.

“Scott, Stiles,” Kate said sweetly, “Will you please stay after? We need to have a little discussion about your quizzes.”

The bit of the class still left in the room snickered while Lydia cast a worried glance between the two of them. Stiles shook his head and nudged it to the side to tell Lydia they’d be fine. Kate was just posturing, trying to intimidate them.

Lydia walked out of the room, leaving her purse sitting in the chair next to hers.

Kate spoke again as soon as the class was empty, “I thought I made it very clear that there was to be no cheating on this quiz.”

Stiles leaned against the edge of the table, “I guess it’s a good thing that we didn’t cheat then.”

“But didn’t you?” Kate smirked.

“No.”

“Really?” Kate hummed, “You were finished with your own test pretty quickly, Stiles.”

“Right.” Stiles deadpanned, “I cheated off of the only person to finish before me, never mind that they were halfway across the room from me.”

Kate rolled her eyes, “Such a smart mouth.”

“I guess that’s why I finished the quiz so quick, huh?”

Kate took a deep breath, “I could have sworn I heard you whispering the answers to Scott after you finished though.”

“What?” Scott squawked, “That’s insane. There is no way you could have heard Stiles say anything because he didn’t say anything.”

“Really?” A single eyebrow arched on Kate’s face, “And how would you know what I can and can’t hear?”

And.

Shit.

Stiles’ heart skipped a beat, and the look on Kate’s face said she heard it perfectly.

Kate turned her back to them just as Stiles’ phone buzzed in his pocket. He slowly slipped it out and read the text he’d just gotten from Lydia.

 

**From Lydia: Keep her distracted.**

Before Stiles could reply and ask her what she meant, the door to the classroom flung open and Lydia marched inside. Kate whirled around on her heel and glared at Lydia.

“Excuse me!” Kate all but growled, “May I help you, Miss Martin?”

“Sorry,” Lydia said sweetly, “I left my bag at my table.”

Well, Lydia certainly didn’t lie.

Stiles looked over his shoulder and Lydia gave him a wide eyed look before walking to the back of the lab.

Before Kate could realize that Lydia was in a different part of the room, Stiles leaned over her desk and sat both palms flat against the wooden top.

“You know what, Kate?” Stiles glared at her.

“Yes, sweetie?” Kate smiled.

Stiles took a deep breath, “You’re a fucking bitch, and it’s about time that someone told you that.”

Stiles heard Scott gasp, but all he could focus on was how comically wide Kate’s eyes got. The next thing Stiles noticed was Kate’s hand, balled into a white knuckled fist. She took one step forward, drawing her hand back like she was about to swing at him.

Stiles really didn’t want to know what it felt like to get punched by a Rougarou.

Luckily, Stiles wouldn’t have to find out.

“Stiles get down!” Lydia yelled from behind him.

Stiles turned just in time to see Lydia moving towards them in a pair of elbow length black laboratory gloves. She had a glass measuring cup in her hand filled with clear liquid and Stiles ducked with almost no time to spare as Lydia threw the liquid directly into Kate’s face.

Kate let out a bone rattling scream as the liquid hit her, a scream that quickly transformed into growls of pain and rage. She staggered backwards, hands clawing at her face as she fell face first towards the white board.

“Holy shit!” Scott yelled, “Lydia, what the hell?”

“She knows we know!” Lydia grabbed Scott and Stiles by the crook of their elbows, “Would you rather I left you in here alone with her?”

Scott shook his head.

“Lydia, did you just throw hydrochloric acid on Kate?” Stiles sputtered.

“Yes!” Lydia hissed, “Now spend less time asking questions and more time running!”

Kate roared from behind them. Stiles looked back and saw her face, it was red, skin melting off and dripping to the ground like something out of a terrible 80’s horror movie. She was half transformed, the undamaged side of her face was covered in hair with black eyes, while the side the acid hit was still mostly, and grossly, human.

Kate’s hands were huge, morphed into the giant and deadly claws of the Rougarou.

“I’m going to fucking kill you!” Kate’s words came out almost inhuman, a mixture of her sickly sweet voice and a feral animal, “Then I’m going to rip your limbs from your body and find you parents, and then I’m going to fucking beat them to death with your bloody stumps of bodies you fucking little piecs of shit!”

Kate lunged for them, but Scott tackled her midair. They tumbled to the ground, bumping into tables and knocking over chairs as they swiped at each other with their claws.

“Where’s Erica?” Stiles asked Lydia.

“I told her to wait by your car.” Lydia said, grabbing a bunsen burner off the table and lighting it.

“Are you making a Molotov or something?” Stiles asked, eyeing the blue flame in her hand.

“Not enough time.” Lydia shook her head, “Scott! Move!”

Scott jabbed Kate with his claws one final time before pushing backwards and rolling over towards Stiles’ feet. Stiles leaned down and helped him up just as Lydia threw the Bunsen burner at Kate. Kate howled as her clothes caught fire and they took that as their opportunity to get away.

They ran towards the parking lot, which was thankfully empty, and didn’t stop until they reached the jeep.

“Oh my god!” Erica gasped, “What the hell happened?”

“Long story!” Stiles yelled before unlocking the door, “Get in the car and we’ll tell you as long as we survive.”

Stiles cranked the engine and peeled out of the parking lot, leaving skid marks across the pavement.

 

X

 

Stiles groaned when he pulled into the driveway and saw the Camaro and his dad’s cruiser in front of him. He’d texted Derek about what happened, followed by his dad, as he took everyone home. He’d dropped off Lydia first, then Erica, and finally Scott.

Stiles turned the jeep off, got out, tipped his head to the sky to say a silent prayer, and quickly made his way to the front door.

The door opened before Stiles could even get his keys ready.

On the other side of the threshold stood one very angry father, and one equally pissed off werewolf.

Stiles decided to focus on his dad. Because, while Derek did look really fucking pissed off, he also looked pretty damn hot.

“You threw acid on Kate?” Derek all but barked as soon as Stiles closed the door behind himself.

“Seriously?” His dad echoed, “What the hell were you thinking?”

Stiles held his hands up in surrender, “Technically I didn’t throw acid on her, Lydia did. She also might have lit her on fire.”  

“Lydia…as in Lydia Martin?” His dad looked dumbstruck, “The one who’s a…banshee?”

Stiles nodded, “Kate somehow knew that we knew she was the Rougarou and she cornered me and Scott after class. She was about to hit me before Lydia gave her the good ol’ acid bath.”

His dad glared, “Stop making jokes, this isn’t funny. She could have killed you!”

Derek grabbed Stiles arm, flipping it back and forth in his hand, “Did she hurt you?”

Stiles shook his head, “I told you, she didn’t get a chance to do anything before Lydia got to her first. Kate fought with Scott for a minute but then Lydia threw a Bunsen burner at her and we ran away.”

His dad ran a hand through his hair, “I am not hearing this conversation.”

“She didn’t chase us out of the school,” Stiles added, “She was half transformed and her face was melting off like the Toxic Avenger, it was kind of cool honestly. Plus, I got to call her a fucking bitch.”

“You what?” Derek and his father yelled in unison.

Stiles took a step backwards, “Alright, I can see the tides turning in this conversation so I’m going to go upstairs, take a shower, and then pass the fuck out because it has been a stressful day.”

“You’re not going to school tomorrow.” Derek’s mouth was a grim line.

“Excuse me,” the Sheriff said, “I think I decided stuff like that. Stiles, you’re not going to school tomorrow.”

“Hurray!” Stiles twirled his fingers around in little circles above his head, “I’m going to go wash the smell of burning evil out of my nose.”

 

X

 

Stiles woke up and looked at the clock, it was three in the morning and he’d been asleep for about six hours. He passed out almost immediately after taking a shower, only waking up briefly when Derek stuck his head inside to tell Stiles that he’d be watching him overnight.

Stiles rolled over and turned on his lamp, wincing as the light burned off his corneas. He looked around the room for his backpack, figuring if he wasn’t going to fall back to sleep he could at least get a jumpstart on his homework.

He got out of bed, pulled on a shirt, and looked around the room before remembering he’d left his bag in the front seat of the jeep.

Sighing, he opened the door to his room and stepped out into the hallway. His dad’s door was closed, but he could hear his snores drifting out into the hallway. He made his way down the stairs and quietly opened the front door after grabbing his keys. The concrete of the driveway was cold beneath his feet and his shivered, jumping around in place for a moment before jogging to the jeep.

The Camaro was gone, but Stiles was sure Derek was skulking around somewhere. Derek would probably pop out any second now to try and scare him as revenge for earlier.

The street in front of the house was quiet, nothing but the asphalt illuminated by the orange glow of the streetlights. Stiles rounded the front of the jeep, unlocking the passengers side and leaning in to grab his backpack.

The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps came from behind Stiles, but he didn’t panic. He laughed, just knowing it was Derek out there trying to scare him was enough to wipe away all the fear.

“Seriously, Der?” Stiles sighed, “You’re really going to have to work harder than that to try and scare me.”

The footsteps stopped, and Stiles could feel warm breath on the back of his neck. Just as he was about to turn, an arm circled around his throat and covered his mouth, long claws pointing dangerously close to his eye.

Alright.

Consider Stiles scared.

“Oh sweetie,” Kate purred into Stiles’ ear, “didn’t anyone ever tell you not to go out at night when there are monsters around?”

The last thing Stiles felt was two cold, metal prods being pressed against his neck before the searing pain of electricity filled his body and his vision went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyway, finishing this was like a birthday present to myself since today is my 25th birthday lol
> 
> good news for me/potentially sad news for you: there's probably only about 5 or 6 chapters left in this, depending on how motivated i am to do some really long chapters lol things are about to hit the fan and they wont stop until like the last chapter


	30. La Tortura

 

 

 

 

Chapter 30

La Tortura

 

Derek was well acquainted with the tree line of the Stilinski household. He knew exactly where to sit to give himself maximum visual and audio coverage, and he even had his own stump. Which sounded weird in retrospect, but it was comfortable enough to sit on for several hours in a row and it was next to a smaller hollowed out log that Derek had built a small stash of books in to read for whenever the was a lull in his watch duty, which was honestly most of the time.

After countless nights spent watching Stiles’ house in the last few weeks that resulted in nothing, Derek still couldn’t get past the feeling that something was going to happen. It clawed at the back of his neck like a creature trying to rip his spine out. The constant feeling that the other shoe was about to drop.

He knew he should have been at the school today, it was reckless of him to believe that everyone would be safe there. It was obvious Kate would try something in the middle of the day when there were dozens of witnesses around. Kate was always reckless, even more so now that she was the Rougarou. Kate had always thought she was untouchable, and her complex could have only gotten bigger now that she wasn’t entirely human.

Derek still hadn’t wrapped his head around everything. He’d been ignoring it mostly, because if he stopped to think about everything he didn’t know if he could get started again. The implication that Kate was, in some twisted and fucked up way, a pack member by bite was enough to make him sick. So Derek did what he did best, he buried everything and didn’t let it surface in any way.

It helped that he had other things to focus on, like the steady thump of Stiles’ heart a couple hundred feet away, give or take a set of stairs.

Derek tipped his head back and looked at the stars. The moon was more than half full, a constant reminder hanging overhead. He took a deep breath and inhaled, grounding himself with the scent of the forest and Beacon Hills.

He reached for his book, opening the page and scanning for where he left off when he heard something.

A small snap. A twig, probably, breaking behind him.

Derek was on his feet in an instant, claws out as he turned to face the darkness of the forest. He let himself shift slightly to better improve his night vision, but there wasn’t anyone there as far as he could see. He turned his head upwards, his nose catching the small breeze that was blowing through the air and didn’t catch anything of interest.

His shoulders relaxed, it was probably a small animal making its way through the woods. He’d know if it was Kate, he’d be able to smell her coming for miles. Derek would never forget her scent.

Just as he was about to sit, another piece of wood snapped. Closer this time, bigger too, like a small branch deliberately being broken.

“Who’s there?” Derek called into the darkness, “Peter, if that’s you I’m going to rip your throat out for fucking with me. I’m not in the mood.”

Nothing.

Silence.

And then.

Snap.

Derek shifted fully, fangs bared and claws sharp. Still unable to see anyone, he lowered himself into a crouch. The breeze blew again, and this time Derek caught the faint smell of a spice. Cinnamon maybe, or cardamom. Another guest of wind brought something minty, like peppermint.

The next gust of wind brought an arrow.

It happened so quickly and unexpectedly that Derek didn’t have a chance to react. The arrow hit him with superhuman force, going straight through his shoulder and tearing through muscle and bone to emerge on the other side. Derek flew backwards through the air, the arrow pinning him to a large tree. He struggled to pull himself free of the tree, reaching up to try and break the arrow in half once he realized it was free of wolfsbane.

The second Derek’s hand touched the shaft of the arrow, it sparked to life and shot electricity through his entire body. Derek screamed as he felt the pain shoot through him, sparking and burning nerve endings through his body and causing him to shift back to normal.

“Kate!” Derek growled just before another arrow embedded itself in the opposite shoulder.

Kate stepped out of the shadows with a bow slung over her shoulder. Her hair was pulled back and her eyes were completely black. Her face showed no signs of damage from earlier in the day.

“It’s nice to see you again, lover boy.” Kate grinned as her eyes returned to their normal color.

“We’ve seen each other plenty since you’ve been back. I remember kicking your ass.”

Kate held up a small remote, flipped it around in her fingers, and then pressed a button in the center. Derek screamed as he was electrocuted again. The current only stopped when Kate lifted her finger off the box and placed it in her pocket.

“I was holding back,” Kate smiled, flashing her fangs, “I wanted to see how strong you’d gotten after growing up.”

“Strong enough to kill you.” Derek growled.

“Really?” Kate cocked her head to the side, “Because from where I’m standing it doesn’t seem like you’re in the position to do any kind of killing. In fact, I could walk right through the front door of your little boyfriend’s house and kill him, and his daddy and you couldn’t do a thing about it.”

Derek’s eyes flashed blue, “If you touch him…”

Kate rolled her eyes, “You’ll what? Get really sad and howl mournfully in the woods like you did after I burnt your house down?”

Derek snapped at her, struggling to pull himself from the tree.

Kate walked forward, stopping just out of Derek’s reach. She twisted her necklace between her fingers, a thin cord with a small fabric pouch attached to it.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Kate whispered, “Stiles and I are going to go on a little trip. If you, your bitch of a sister, or anyone else in that pathetic excuse of a pack tries to follow us then I’ll send him back to you piece by piece. I know exactly what part I’d start with too, it’s one I’m sure you’re just dying to get your paws on.”

Derek opened his mouth to yell, but Kate pulled out a metal rod and hit him across the face with it before he could do anything. Derek winced as he felt his nose break, and Kate shoved the tip of the rod in the hollow of his throat.

“I’ll tell Stiles you said hi.” Kate smiled before pressing the rod harder against his throat and electrocuting Derek until he was unconscious.

 

X

 

Laura ran across the yard, jumping over bushes and trampling flowers to get to Derek. The Sheriff stood just outside the edge of the tree line, waving Laura in the right direction. She didn’t need him to though, the second Laura got close enough to the Stilinski house all she could smell was the acrid scent of Derek’s blood.

Lydia was a few minutes behind her. Laura had been keeping an eye on Lydia’s house overnight in case Kate decided to come for revenge when she’d gotten the call from the Sheriff. Lydia was awake and ready in under ten minutes, but Laura couldn’t take the idea of being stuck in a slow-moving car, so she’d left Lydia behind to run to the house.

Not that Lydia was a slow driver, if the squealing tires Laura could here from a mile away were any indication.

Melissa and Scott were on their way, they were the next call that the Sheriff made after Laura.

Laura had to give the Sheriff credit, Stiles was missing but he was still doing his best job at keeping everyone together and informed. Maybe he knew he was too out of his league to run off and search for Stiles on his own.

Laura stopped in her tracks when she saw Derek.

Derek was pinned to a large oak tree by two arrows on either side of his chest, blood dripping its way down his white shirt. His face was bruised and bloody, and his throat was charred and burnt. The smell of burnt flesh threatened to send Laura over the edge. The only saving grace was that Derek was still breathing.

“I didn’t touch him,” The Sheriff stepped to the side, “I didn’t want to hurt him anymore than he already was.”

Laura took a deep breath and turned to the Sheriff, “Do you have any idea what happened?”

“I was sleeping, and I heard a window break downstairs. I went to Stiles’ room and he was gone, I rushed down and the front door was open, and the door to the Jeep with Stiles’ bag on the ground. I called out for Stiles or Derek and no one answered. That’s when I found this in the front door.”

The Sheriff held up two zip loc bags, one with a hunting knife inside and the other with a single napkin. Laura leaned in closer, realizing for the first time that the sheriff was wearing latex gloves, and saw that the napkin had red lipstick smeared all over it.

“Kate.” Laura growled, “I’m going to fucking kill her.”

The Sheriff’s expression was darker than Laura had ever seen it, “Get in line.”

“Oh my god.” Scott’s voice came from behind them, followed by a gasp from Melissa and Lydia that was almost in unison.

“What happened?” Lydia asked.

“Kate.” Laura said before turning to Scott, “Scott, I need you to help me get him down from there.”

“Why isn’t he healing?” Melissa asked.

Laura walked over to Derek and snapped both arrows in half, “The arrows are still inside of him. We heal incredibly fast, but we can only heal once we’re not being hurt anymore. It’s why hunters use arrows so often, we can’t heal if they’re still inside of us.”

“What do you need me to do?” Scott asked.

“Grab one side of him and help me lift,” Laura leaned in closer to Derek, “I don’t smell any wolfsbane, so we should fine.”

Scott nodded and walked to Derek’s left side, lifting him in time with Laura. They walked forward a few feet until they were fully in the back yard of the house. The Sheriff and Melissa pulled the cushions from the padded bench on the back porch and spread them out on the ground before Laura and Scott laid Derek on them.

“He should start healing soon.” Laura said, brushing a few strands of hair out of Derek’s face.

“Should we call Deaton?” Scott asked.

Laura shook her head, “No. He’ll be fine soon once the healing kicks in, Kate didn’t do anything that will cause lasting damage. She was just sending a message.”

“She wanted us to know she has Stiles.” Lydia whispered.

“I’m calling this in,” the Sheriff said, “I can have every officer in this state looking for her within the hour.”

“No.”

Laura looked down to see Derek’s eyes barely open, his mouth dry and struggling.

“I’ll go get him some water.” Melissa pushed herself up from the ground and ran for the house.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” The Sheriff asked.

“She said…” Derek trailed off coughing, “She said if we follow her, or send anyone, she’ll…send him back in pieces.”

The Sheriff’s eyes went wide, and he balled his hands into fists.

“As crazy as she is, I’m inclined to believe her.” Lydia said, “We have to do something though.”

“She wants us to come,” Laura said, “she wouldn’t have gone through all of this if she didn’t. We just have to be careful about how we do it.”

Melissa returned with a bottle of water. She uncapped it and handed it to Laura. Laura cradled Derek’s head in her legs and tipped his head back, placing the water bottle at his parted lips. Derek drank greedily, inhaling the entire bottle in just a few seconds. He coughed for a few more seconds after that before reaching for the towel Melissa was holding and wiping the blood off his face.

“Feeling better?” Laura asked with a small smile.

Derek nodded, pushing himself up on his elbows and taking another deep breath, “We have to find Stiles.”

“We will,” Laura said, looking between Derek and the Sheriff, “I promise you we will.”

“How was Kate able to surprise you like this?” Scott asked.

It was the question on everyone’s mind, and it seemed that Scott was the only one without enough of a filter to ask.

Derek leaned his head back, “She was far away at first, and then we she got closer it was like I couldn’t smell her. I couldn’t smell Kate, the Rougarou, or anything. It was just spices and herbs.”

Scott’s eyes went wide, “Just like Allison.”

“What?” Laura and Derek asked in unison.

Scott hesitated for a moment, “I, uh, meant to tell you about it but then everything with our parents happened and it slipped my mind.”

Laura took a calming breath, “Tell me what, Scott?”

“At the park, before you called me, I was with Allison.” Scott’s eyes drifted towards the ground, “She surprised me, I didn’t smell her, and she told me she was wearing some mixture of herbs and spices that made it so I couldn’t tell it was her.”

Derek growled, “Did it look like a small fabric bag on a thin cord?”

Scott nodded.

“Fuck,” Derek slammed his fist into the ground repeatedly, “God dammit! If you had told us about this earlier, then this wouldn’t have happened! I would have been ready, I would have been inside the fucking house instead of trusting in my instincts outside!”

Scott’s eyes flashed gold, “Do you think I wanted this to happen?”

Derek jumped to his feet, grabbing Scott by the collar of his shirt and lifting him up in the air.

Melissa screamed, but Derek ignored her.

“It doesn’t matter what you wanted! You didn’t think because you were blinded by your obsession with Allison, with a hunter, and now Stiles is gone and who knows what will happen to him.”

“Derek!” Laura yelled, her eyes red, “Put him down. Now.”

Derek glared at her with electric blue eyes. They each held the others stare for several long seconds before Derek begrudgingly let go of Scott, watching as he fell to the ground. Melissa rushed over and helped him up, but Scott waved her away and stood on his own.

“Now isn’t the time for us to fight with each other.” Laura began, “Kate wants us to rip ourselves apart, she wants to splinter this pack, however small it may be, and then swoop in and take us out when we’re broken and vulnerable. That isn’t going to happen. I’m not going to let it. We’re not going to find Stiles by fighting with each other.”

“I’m sorry I forgot to tell you, but I never thought Kate would steal it from Allison to use it against us.” Scott hung his head.

“Or Allison gave it to her.” Derek said with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Allison wouldn’t!” Scott gasped, “You know she wouldn’t. Right, Lydia?”

Lydia was quiet for a second, “It does look bad that Allison wasn’t at school today.”

“Not you too!” Scott growled, “Allison is your friend!”

Lydia sighed, “And so is Stiles. I’m merely stating that it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Allison didn’t come to school on the day that Kate planned her surprise evil pop quiz, and then Kate happens to show up in Allison’s magic werewolf scrambling necklace. It’s circumstantial, but it’s enough.”

“That’s not how circumstantial evidence works, Lydia.” The Sheriff pinched the bridge of his nose, “But in any case, if Allison Argent can help find my son then someone needs to talk to her or I’m hauling her into the station myself.”

Laura could see that the Sheriff’s patience was starting to wear thin. He needed action, and so did everyone else. If everyone was out putting their energy into finding Stiles there would be less of it left over to rip into each other.

“It’s still dark out, no one is questioning Allison until morning. We’re going to split up and start a search, we need to see if we can pick up any trace of Stiles on our own without having to involve any other Argents. Derek, you and Lydia go north and into the preserve. Kate might have some kind of safe house out there that we don’t know about. Scott, you and your mom go into town and see if you can find any trace of Stiles or Kate. Kate might have made a stop for some reason. Sheriff, you and I will take downtown and the industrial district. If Kate is staying in town then there are plenty of abandoned buildings for her to set up shop in. We’ll search until sunrise and stay in constant contact, I want calls every ten minutes. If we don’t have anything, then we’ll talk about having a conversation with Allison.”

Laura took a deep breath, winded from her speech, and looked at the group in front of her.

“Any questions?” Laura asked, her eyes red.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Good.” Laura nodded, “Let’s move out and find Stiles.”

 

X

 

Stiles came to in a dark room. He stretched out on the floor with a groan, his hands scraping against dirt and dust. His groan quickly turned to a cry of pain as he tried to move his head, the back of his neck screamed in agony and he crumpled back to the ground as he drew his knees into his chest.

It all came back in flashes. Waking up, walking downstairs, going outside like an idiot, and Kate pressing a stun baton to the back of his neck and scrambling his brains. Stiles gently reached back and touched his fingers against the two spots on the back of his neck and hissed out a low curse the second they made contact.

He didn’t have time to think about the potential brain damage that could be a side effect of being tazed so close to his brain though, the sound of heavy footsteps on the other side of the door drew his attention. They sounded far too loud to be human, and Stiles knew what was about to walk in the door before it even opened. He scrambled backwards, ignoring the pain the back of his neck as he pressed himself flat against the opposite wall. It was then that Stiles realized his ankles were chained together and connected by a long chain to a bolted down plate in the middle of the room.

The door to the room flung open, and on the other side stood the Rougarou. It was the first time Stiles really had the chance to study Kate as the Rougarou up close, most of the other times had been spent either running from her or looking at her imposing form from afar. Any other time he was too terrified to look too closely at her, but now Stiles knew that being scared wouldn’t do him any good.

Kate was easily two feet taller as the Rougarou than she was as a human. She had to duck to enter the room, her lupine head twisted into a snarl. Thick, coarse, black fur covered her body, molted and dotted with what looked like dried blood. Tight, sinewy muscles rippled under her skin as she moved, and her claws seemed to gleam in the dim light of the room.

Stiles’ eyes darted around the room, looking for anything he could use to escape, but there was no way he was getting away from Kate without losing something in the process. His only respite was that Kate took him for a reason, she could have easily killed him and sent a message to Derek and Laura, but she took him and kept him alive instead.

“Hey there, Clifford.” Stiles rasped, his sounding almost foreign to his ears.

Kate growled, one hand lashing out at Stiles and landing clawed fingertips into the wall next to his head with a terrifying thunk.

OK, maybe sarcasm wasn’t the best weapon against homicidal maniacs who also happen to be supernatural creatures, but it was about all Stiles had left at this point.

Kate’s pitch-black eyes held his for a moment before she withdrew her hand, or rather, paw, and took a step backwards. Stiles watched in equal parts horror and fascination as Kate cracked her neck to the side and started to transform back into a human.

She doubled over, letting out another growl as the bones it her arms shattered and reformed. She fell to her knees, her back bowing upwards as sharp vertebrae pierced the skin along her spinal cord and quickly healed back over itself. Her legs curled inwards as the sound of crunching bones filled the room. And then, just as quickly as it began, it was over.

The room was silent for a few seconds before Kate stood, completely naked, and stretched her arms over her head. Stiles looked away, because a naked and bloody Kate Argent was probably as low on his list of things he wanted to see as it could possibly be.

“Don’t be so shy,” Kate cooed, “I’ve been through your internet history, I know what you like to look at.”

Stiles’ jaw dropped, “You did what?”

Kate winked at him, “Don’t think I didn’t notice when your searches started to include more and more dark and scruffy types with big dicks.”

Stiles’ mouth went dry. Jesus, how long had Kate been watching him? And just what else did she know?

“You all really underestimated me,” Kate crouched in front of Stiles, grabbing his chin so she could look directly at him, “I’d be offended if I wasn’t so amused by it.”

“That’s how you knew that we figured out what you were.” Stiles said, trying out a theory.

Kate leaned back and stood up, “Not quite. Once I heard that Peter was back in the fray I figured it was only a matter of time until he told someone what happened that night. Let me tell you, that is the last time I ever trust a witch when they say that have something under control. If I’d have taken Peter from the hospital there is no way he would have escaped.”

That was it.

Even though everyone had slowly started to buy into the possibility that Kate and the witch weren’t connected, especially after Peter’s story, it still stuck in the back of Stiles’ brain. Something never sat right, and it always felt like everything was connected.

“You were incompetent enough to need the help of a witch in the first place.” Stiles pointed out.

Kate backhanded him, which didn’t surprise Stiles. He’d already prepared for that outcome before he even spoke.

“That bitch came to me.” Kate said, crossing her arms over her chest, “She needed my help, not the other way around.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“Keep talking to me like that and see what happens.”

Stiles laughed, “You took me for a reason. You’re not going to kill me.”

Kate smiled, “Just because I’m not going to kill you doesn’t mean you have to walk out of this with all the body parts you came in with.”

Stiles felt his heart jump in his chest, and the look on Kate’s face said she heard it too.

Kate walked across the room and opened a duffle bag, pulling out clothes and changing into a pair of dark jeans and a black shirt. She pulled out a gun, checked it, and then stuck it in the waistband of her pants before turning back to Stiles.

“Do you know where we are?” Kate asked.

“Your weird torture dungeon?” Stiles guessed.

“You’re not as funny as you think you are.”

“That’s not what my daddy says.”

Kate kicked him in the shin before settling against the wall opposite him. Stiles tried to ignore the sharp pain in his leg as Kate spoke.

“Take a deep breath,” Kate held both her arms out wide, “really breathe it in and tell me what you smell.”

Reluctantly, Stiles complied. Her took a deep breath, acrid air filling his nose and making him sneeze. It smelled like…ash. And this it all became abundantly clear as Stiles looked around the room with a new set of eyes, the scorch marks on the walls and the floor, the flecks of white papery dust in the corners.

“The Hale house.” Stiles whispered.

“And we have a winner.” Kate grinned, “Guess what room we’re in.”

Stiles stayed silent.

“You’re no fun.” Kate rolled her eyes, “I think Derek’s bed went right about where you’re sitting.”

Stiles felt sick to his stomach. It felt wrong, like a total violation. He was chained up in Derek’s childhood bedroom, in the burnt of husk of a house where his family died, held hostage by the woman who did it.

Kate pulled out her phone and took a picture of Stiles. The flash was enough to blind him momentarily in the darkness of the room, and when his vision refocused Kate was standing in the doorway again.

“I hope you’re as excited about this as I am.”

Kate closed the door, and Stiles winced when he heard the lock click.

 

X

 

Scott was losing his mind.

It was almost night time again and they hadn’t found a single trace of Stiles anywhere in town or out in the preserve. Every group had gotten a few hints on his scent, which they’d followed and found nothing. It was like they were deliberately being led in the wrong direction. It was picking at the already frayed edges of Scott’s sanity, and the longer it went on the more on edge everyone got.

The Sheriff’s eyes grew more and more hollow as the day went on. Scott could tell just how much it was affecting him, deflating every time he went to call in the rest of the police force before remembering Kate’s warning. It would help to have the police out searching, but everyone was taking Kate’s thread as serious as they possibly could.

The longer they went without a trace of Stiles, the angrier Derek got. Each tick of the clock was like someone taking a jackhammer to his control and he was about to snap. He wouldn’t speak to anyone, not even Laura. The only person Scott had even seen Derek mumble to was the Sheriff.

“We’re not going to find anything like this,” Lydia said as they regrouped for the fourth time, “We need to talk to Allison.”

Scott tensed. He wanted to find Stiles more than anything, but he also knew that the second Allison was around them everyone would pounce on her. Scott knew, he knew, that she wasn’t involved in this. He knew that Allison wasn’t with Kate, that she would never do anything like that. But no one would listen to him.

“Lydia is right.” Laura leaned against the park bench closest to her, “Allison is the only lead we haven’t followed.”

“Do you all honestly think Allison would know where Kate is?” The Sheriff asked, his voice weary.

“She’ll know,” Derek said, finally speaking to the group with a blank look on his face, “and if she won’t tell us then I’ll make her.”

“Derek!” Laura snapped, “We’re not torturing anyone for information. That’s not what we do.”

Derek slammed his hand down on the wooden table, cracking it in half, “And what do you think they’re doing to Stiles right now? Feeding him grapes and letting him cuddle with kittens?”

The Sheriff choked out a sob. Scott’s mom ran to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him off to the side.

Lydia narrowed her eyes at Derek, “Maybe don’t make references to how his son is possibly being tortured in front of him?”

Derek turned his back to Lydia and walked towards the tree line, “I’m going to find Allison.”

“No!” Scott yelled, “You’re not going anywhere near her.”

Derek turned slowly, “Excuse me?”

Scott swallowed deeply but stood his ground, “You’re not going anywhere near Allison like this, you’ll hurt her.”

“You care more about Allison than you do about Stiles?”

“I care about making sure no one gets hurt if they don’t have to be!” Scott yelled, “I know you’re upset and scared, so am I, but that doesn’t mean you get to run around hurting people.”

“Hunters aren’t people.”

Scott stepped forward until he was looking directly at Derek, their faces just a few inches apart, “Isn’t that what hunters say about you?”

The group went silent. The only person who moved was Laura, walking quickly so she could intercept them, but she wasn’t fast enough. Derek’s arms pushed out, hitting Scott directly in the center of his chest and sending him flying backwards a few feet. His back collided with the edge of the table, but he quickly rolled to the side to avoid further damage.  

“Fuck you.” Derek growled, his eyes electric blue.

“Enough!” Laura screamed, “What the fuck did I tell you two earlier?”

Derek and Laura turned towards each other and began to argue. Scott tuned them out, his eyes glancing around the small clearing. He knew what he had to do, it was the only way they could get the information they needed without anyone else getting hurt. He pulled out his phone and texted Allison.

 

**To Allison: I need to see you. ASAP.**

**From Allison: I’m with my dad. Later?**

**To Allison: Emergency. 911. Please.**

**From Allison: …**

**From Allison: Meet me behind my house in 10 minutes.**

 

While everyone was busy watching Derek and Laura argue, Scott ran. He heard his mom call out behind him, but he ignored it. He ran faster than he’d ever ran before, even faster than training sessions with Derek. Allison’s house was on the other side of town, but he was sure he could cut through the woods to make it there in less time.

Nine minutes later, Scott found himself a few hundred feet from the back gate of Allison’s property. He watched as the gate swung open and Allison stepped out, wearing sweats with her hair pulled up high into a ponytail.

“Hey,” Allison said between breaths, “Sorry, I was training with my dad.”

Scott shook his head, “It’s fine. I’m sorry for bothering you, I wouldn’t have but it’s an emergency.”

“Scott,” Allison said softly, “what’s wrong? You look freaked out.”

“Stiles is missing.”

Allison’s jaw dropped, “What?”

“Stiles is gone.” Scott repeated, “He was taken from his house last night.”

“Oh my god,” Allison covered her mouth, “what happened? How can I help? What do you know?”

Scott took a deep breath, “Allison, I need you to trust me, OK? What I’m about to say might make you mad, but…I just need you to know that I’m telling the truth.”

Allison’s pulse remained steady, but her eyes were filled with confusion, “Scott…what is it?”

“The person who took Stiles was Kate.” Scott said it in such a rush that it came out sounding like gibberish.

“Did you just say Kate?” Allison cocked her head to the side, “What’s going on?”

“Kate took Stiles,” Scott said slowly, “she showed up at the Sheriff’s house last night, attacked Derek, and kidnapped Stiles. We’ve been out looking for him all day, but we haven’t found anything. We know she has him, but she said if we call the cops or anything she’ll hurt him, and I don’t know what else to do. Derek wants to come over here and make you tell us what you know but I don’t want that to happen, but I also don’t want anything to happen to Stiles because he’s my best friend, so I really just need your help.”

 Allison reached out and placed a hand on Scott’s shoulder, “Scott, take a breath. Why would Kate take Stiles?”

Scott looked up and met Allison’s eyes, “Because Kate is the Rougarou.”

Allison quickly pulled her hand back as if she had been burned, “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true.” Scott said softly.

“That is the most insane thing I’ve ever heard in my life, Scott.”

“I know!” Scott said loudly, “I know it’s crazy but it’s true! Peter Hale was there when it happened, he saw everything.”

“The same Peter Hale who has been in a coma for about a decade and just recently went missing?”

“Yes.” Scott hung his head, “I’m sorry, but you know I wouldn’t lie to you.”

Allison turned her back to him and walked towards the gate, but she stopped halfway and turned around again, “If you think Kate is the Rougarou then that means you think she’s been the one killing people around town.”

“She _is_ the one who has been killing people!” Scott said, “She started with Mr. Harris and then went from there.”

“Hunters don’t kill people, Scott.” Allison shook her head.

“Maybe not the good ones,” Scott said, “but Kate isn’t a good one.”

“You don’t even know Kate!” Allison yelled, “Where is all this coming from? Are the Hales making you think this?”

Scott shook his head, “There’s evidence. The Sheriff has proof that Kate is killing people to cover up what happened during the fire.”

“The fire?” Allison repeated.

Scott scrubbed both hands down his face before speaking, “Kate was the one who set the fire at the Hale house. Mr. Harris taught her how to start a chemical fire, and the other two guys that were murdered were paid off to cover it up in the official reports. Kate killed an entire family, Allison. Kate shot Derek with a wolfsbane bullet outside of his apartment for no reason, the Sheriff has the gun with her fingerprints all over it.”

“Wow,” Allison whispered, “So, just to recap in the past five minutes you’ve told me that my aunt is a mass murderer, a supernatural creature, and that she’s kidnapped a high school student just to terrorize people.”

Scott nodded, “I know it sounds crazy, but I promise there’s proof for everything. I just, I need to know if you know were Kate is. When was the last time you saw her?”

Allison hesitated, “I saw her yesterday, but she was gone when I woke up this morning.”

“Do you know where she went?”

“I didn’t ask.”

“Allison, please,” Scott begged, “I know this is a lot to take in, but you can’t tell me you’re surprised about some of this. You’ve told me you’re not really that close to Kate.”

“Just because we’re not close doesn’t mean I’d automatically believe everything you’ve just accused her of.”

“There’s really nothing that she’s ever done that seemed weird to you?” Scott asked.

Allison sighed, “Scott, I’m sorry, I have to go. My dad is probably already wondering where I went.”

Allison turned around and walked back to the gate, opened it, and shut it behind her without looking back.

Scott didn’t know what to do anymore.

 

X

 

Allison closed the gate behind her and let her head rest on the metal for just a second. One second was all she was going to give herself to freak out, and then she would recover. She fought off the traitorous feelings inside of her and tried to make sense of everything Scott had just unloaded on her. She tried to push away the nagging voice in her head that was telling her there was a possibility that Scott was right, that he wouldn’t lie to her, that he wouldn’t come to her without concrete proof.

She couldn’t believe a werewolf over her own family. What would her dad say if he even knew what she was thinking?

No.

She took a deep breath and collected herself. Scott was mistaken, he had to be. Or he was being lied to, being used as an instrument to start a war. Or worse, Scott was knowingly lying to her.

It had to be one of those options because it couldn’t be true.

Except.

It made the tiniest bit of sense.

“Fuck.” Allison whispered to herself.

There was one, small, tiny, miniscule, irrelevant moment in her head that rushed forward like a freight train. The night in the woods. The first night she ever saw the Rougarou. Kate was with them that night, she was supposed to be on the radio, she was supposed to be Allison’s right hand.

But she wasn’t. Kate went radio silent that night and everyone wrote it off as her normal, hotshot behavior. Allison didn’t know any better because it was the first time she’d ever been out in the field with Kate.

And then, just as quickly as the Rougarou had disappeared, Kate was back. She was covered in dirt and bloody, claiming she went toe to toe with what Allison now knew to be the Rougarou. Except Kate didn’t so much as have a limp, even though she claimed the Rougarou struck her.

Allison had been hit by the Rougarou and she certainly wasn’t able to walk it off, there was no way Kate would have been able to either.

Allison could have ignored it, written it off as a weird coincidence, if it wasn’t for the fact that other pieces started to snap into place. She’d overheard her dad and Kate arguing earlier in the week about a missing high-powered rifle and a few clips of wolfsbane ammo. Kate told her dad that she borrowed it incase she was attacked by the Rougarou again, but she never brought it back.

Allison checked every day.

Scott was right when he said there was a part of her that believed him, or at least believed that Kate was dangerous. Her dad always told her there was a reason Kate wasn’t around much, and you just had to listen to someone talk about her to figure out why. The way Kate taught her, the way she talked about taking down a rogue werewolf, it was like she enjoyed it more than she should.

“Fuck.” Allison whispered again.

Scott was right.

Just as Allison was about to turn around with desperate hope that Scott was still out back the sliding glass door opened.

“What are you doing out here?” Her dad asked, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Sorry,” Allison smiled, “Lydia called so I had to take it. Boy problems, you know?”

Her dad huffed out a laugh, “I don’t.”

“Right.” Allison laughed awkwardly.

“You done training for the day?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Allison said, “I think I’ve gone beyond the level of sweat I’m comfortable with. I’m going to run upstairs and take a shower.”

“Right.” He smiled, “You did good work today.”

“Thanks dad.” Allison bit down on the guilt inside her.

“I’ll be down in the basement doing inventory, find me when you’re done, and we can go out and grab something to eat since your mom is out of town.”

Allison nodded and walked into the house, pausing at the base of the stairs, “Hey, did Kate ever bring that rifle back?”

Her dad rolled his eyes, “No. Not that I expected her to.”

Her dad walked away mumbling. Allison dashed up the stairs, bypassing the door to her own room and heading towards the door that led to the room Kate was in. She tried the handle and cursed under her breath when it was locked. She looked over her shoulder before running to her room and quickly grabbing her lock picking kit.

She unzipped it and got to work on Kate’s lock the second she was back in front of the door. It took her a few minutes, because breaking and entering was not one of Allison’s strong suits, but she grinned when she mercifully heard the lock release.

The inside of the room was immaculate. There wasn’t a single thing out of place. Clothes lined up by color in the closet, bags tucked away on the shelf above, and shoes laid out in neat rows against the far wall.

Kate’s laptop was gone, which wasn’t surprising, so Allison settled on the oldest form of snooping known to man. She went though all of Kate’s drawers.

She pulled each one open, heedless of making sure nothing looked undisturbed. There wasn’t much of interest in the drawers, a few guns, but nothing that seemed out of place. She went through the pockets of all Kate’s jeans, turning clothes inside out in the hopes that Kate was sloppy enough to leave something incriminating around.

Allison was an idiot to think Kate would be anywhere near sloppy.

She looked under the bed, under the mattress, inside the pillow cases, in the back of the closet, in the top of the closet, in all of Kate’s suitcases, inside her shoes, and found nothing. By the time Allison was done searching the room it looked like a tornado had blown through.

Allison felt stupid, defeated, and crazy. She didn’t know who she should believe, or trust, and she was seconds away from going downstairs and confessing everything to her dad.

And then she saw it.

One of the panels on the wall had shifted, it was just a fraction of an inch, but it was enough for Allison to realize that something was different. She must have knocked it out of place when she threw one of Kate’s boots across the room in anger. She frantically scrambled over the top of the bed, afraid that Kate was going to burst in the room and catch her before she could see what was behind it.

She grabbed a knife from the nightstand and pried the panel off the wall, it had obviously been done a long time ago, but inside the wall was a hollowed-out section that Allison assumed Kate set up the last time she visited a few years ago. Right in front of Allison’s face, like lost treasure, sat a metallic briefcase. It was locked, but Allison made quick work of the simple mechanism with her lock picks.

The case sprang open and Allison’s eyes went wide.

Inside there were photos of Mr. Harris, the man from the video store, and the bus driver. They were all dated before their deaths. Kate had been watching them, tracking them to learn their schedules. Allison sat the pictures to the side and opened the next folder, and then promptly dropped it when she saw what was inside.

Inside the second folder were dozens of pictures of her and everyone else after the night at the library, all of them sitting outside battered and broken. Pictures of Derek showing up to help them, Derek moving Jackson’s unconscious body, Allison holding her weapons, and Scott still wolfed out.

“Fuck.” Allison hissed, for the third time.

She picked up all the pictures and shoved them back in the case, closing and locking it again before getting out of Kate’s room as quickly as she could. She stopped by her room to hide the case under her bed, changed quickly, and all but ran downstairs to the basement.

Her dad was still sitting at one of the workbenches with a set of arrows in front of him, “You all cleaned up?”

“Uh, yeah,” Allison said, distracted by the vacant spot in the garage where the SUV normally parked, “Where’s the SUV?”

Her dad looked over his shoulder at the empty spot, “I guess Kate has it. She’s had the keys for the last few days.”

A lightbulb went off in Allison’s head, “Dad, I’m pretty tired. I think I’m just going to eat something quick here and pass out. Is that fine with you?”

He shrugged, “Sure. I’ve got a lot of work to do down here anyway.”

Allison wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and kissed him on the top of his head, “Thanks. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

She ran back upstairs and locked the door behind her once she was in her room. Maybe it was reckless of her to not tell her dad, but Allison would be lying if she said she wasn’t slightly worried that her dad knew what Kate was up to. She felt like she was on an island and unsure of who she could trust, except for one person.

Allison picked up her phone and quickly called Scott.

“Allison?” Scott answered almost immediately, and Allison could hear hushed voices in the background.

“Scott, I believe you.” Allison said breathlessly, “I believe you and I think I know how to find Kate.”

 

X

 

Derek was seconds away from trashing the apartment. He couldn’t sit around the Stilinski house trying to form a plan while Stiles was out there with Kate. All Derek could do was think about what Kate was doing to him, how she was hurting him, and if Stiles would come back as the same person he was before he was taken.

Derek knew far too well the kind of destructive impact Kate Argent could have on a person’s life.

Derek kept a running list of things he regretted in the last 24 hours. He regretted not staying in Stiles’ room with him because he feared the Sheriff of all people, he regretted not being strong enough to stop Kate when she came for him, he regretted attacking Scott, he regretted fighting with Laura and storming off.

He regretted not kissing Stiles when he had the chance.

Derek slammed his hand into the wall, shattering the plaster. He withdrew it shakily, dusting the white powder off his hand, and dropped down onto the edge of his bed. He cradled his head in his hands and tried to think of something, anything he could do to find Stiles.

He’d trade himself for Stiles in an instant.

But Derek would need to know where Kate was for that to happen, and brooding wasn’t helping anyone find her location. He stood up from the bed, walked out into the hallway, and stopped at the small kitchen table that Laura bought a few days earlier.

On top of the table was one of Stiles’ shirts, the same shirt that he changed out of a few weeks back, the same day that Kate had first shown back up in town as Stiles’ teacher. Derek grabbed the shirt and balled it in his hands, barely resisting the urge to bring it up to his nose and smell it.

His phone buzzed on the table just as Derek sat the shirt back down. He looked at it and froze when he saw that it was a text from an unknown number. He scrambled for the phone, opening it faster than he ever had before in his life.

Attached to the text was a picture of Stiles, bloody and chained to the floor. His face was bruised, his clothes were torn, and he wasn’t wearing shoes.

Derek’s vice grip on the phone threatened to shatter it, the only thing that saved it was an incoming call from the same unknown number.

“Kate.” Derek answered with a growl.

“Hello, lover.” Kate’s smile was audible.

“Where the fuck are you?” Derek yelled, “I’m going to fucking kill you.”

“You’ll see me soon enough.” Kate laughed, “This is my invitation to come over. Alone.”

“Where are you?” Derek’s breathing was growing ragged.

“You can figure it out. If you don’t, then he dies.”

Kate hung up.

Derek pulled the phone back and stared at it in horror. How was he supposed to find Kate? Was he supposed to track her phone call?

Something in the back of Derek’s head stirred. A vague recollection, something like déjà vu, that told Derek he needed to look at the picture again. There had to be some clue in it. Derek opened the picture again, trying as hard as he could to not focus on Stiles’ injuries, and looked at it.

It only took a few seconds for Derek to recognize where Stiles was. The faded wallpaper, the scratched-up hardwood floor, the slightly discolored spot where a headboard used to press against the wall. Derek would know that room anywhere.

He had to go back home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is gonna be fun!


	31. Tina!!! Bring me the axe!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long lol my brain was teen wolf'd out and i needed to take a break writing it but it's finally here! 
> 
> some warnings for like...everything kate related you could possibly think of, she goes hard and nasty in this chapter. there's also some contemplation of suicide for a brief second, so just be aware of that too.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 31

Tina!!! Bring me the axe!

 

Stiles had nothing to do but lay on the floor. His head throbbed, his neck hurt, and the chains around his ankles were chafing. It had been roughly an hour since Kate creepily took his picture and left him and he hadn’t heard from her since. Stiles was sure she was probably gone because there wasn’t any other reason that Kate wouldn’t be in the room taunting him. He could hear other voices though, he was close to one of the windows in the room and every so often he’d hear snippets of conversations. He’d counted about five different voices or so.

Kate wasn’t alone, which meant that even if Stiles was able to get himself free of the chains that bound him it wouldn’t be as easy as just walking out the front door. The lackeys Kate had were probably other hunters, and Stiles wondered if they knew exactly what Kate was. He wondered if they’d turn on her if they found out.

None of it mattered though, because Stiles was chained up in Derek’s bedroom with nothing else to do but wait. Once, _briefly_ , Stiles imagined himself being chained up in Derek’s bedroom, but it was an entirely different scenario.

The only small bit of comfort Stiles had was the actual location Kate was keeping him. It wasn’t like she had him in one of the hundreds of identical warehouses downtown, or some random creepy basement, she had him in a place that was very well known to the people who were looking for him. He had faith in Laura, in Derek, in Scott, in Lydia, in his dad.

They’d find him. They’d find him before Kate enacted whatever fucked up plan she had. Any second now Stiles would hear a howl come from the woods, and it would be followed by the sweet sound of hunters being ripped into pieces.

A boy could dream.

The lock to the door clicked. Stiles scrambled to sit up as the door opened, and he pressed his back against the far wall as the silhouette of a woman overtook the doorway. He thought it was Kate at first, but she was shorter. Her hair was longer, and she didn’t carry herself with the same murderous vibe that Kate did.

She stepped into the room.

“Hello, Stiles.”

The moonlight hit her face and illuminated it. She had brown hair, long past her shoulders. It was hastily pulled back, tendrils of bangs falling on either side of her face to frame it. She wore a dark red shirt, black pants, and a crisp leather jacket. She was just as terrifying as Kate, but for entirely different reasons.

She didn’t appear to be hostile, but Stiles could feel the energy in the room shift when she set foot inside. It was like she’d lifted the room up with her own hands and shook it like a snow globe. Stiles’ head was spinning from the pressure. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or if she was actually doing something to him.

“Hello, random lady.” Stiles managed to reply once his head stopped spinning.

“I’m sorry, that was rude of me.” She smiled softly, “You can call me Jennifer.”

 _Jennifer_.

“You’re the witch.” Stiles whispered.

Jennifer’s smile changed to a new one, sharper and deadlier, “If that’s what you want to call me.”

“You’re working with Kate.”

Jennifer hummed, shrugging her shoulders, “It’s more like Kate was working for me.”

Stiles had to laugh, he couldn’t help himself, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Kate’s not the type of person who works well with others.”

Jennifer frowned, “I’ll admit, I greatly underestimated how much she hated the Hale family. If I’d known then what I know now I never would have approached her. She’s made more than a few major mistakes.”

“Kate’s just a pawn,” Stiles shook his head, “this is too fucking good. I mean, it sucks because I’m chained up and eveeything, but Kate really thinks she’s hot shit when she’s nothing.”

“I like you,” Jennifer said, “it almost makes me less angry about how soon Kate took you.”

And just like that, all the air was sucked out of the room.

“Early?” Stiles repeated the word, it felt like a loaded gun in his mouth.

“She was supposed to wait until your birthday.” Jennifer shook her head and leaned against the wall, “We had a plan. I had a plan. Kate just saw it as an opportunity to hurt Derek Hale and she jumped at it.”

Jennifer was _always_ planning on taking him? Why? What on earth could Stiles have that Jennifer wanted?

“So…” Stiles trailed off, “if she wasn’t supposed to take me now, maybe you can let me go and we can do this whole kidnapping thing next weekend during my actual birthday?”

Jennifer looked like she was seriously considering it for a second, but then she broke out into laughter, “Sorry, Stiles. No can do.”

“Why are you doing this?” Stiles asked, “Did you have Peter too? What the fuck is all of this about?”

“Peter Hale is one slippery werewolf,” Jennifer sighed, “I know none of this makes sense, Stiles, but it’s not for you to understand. There are bigger things at play here in Beacon Hills.”

Stiles groaned, “Jesus, do all of you have to talk in these fucking complicated villain riddles?”

Jennifer’s hand formed a loose fist, she slowly brought it up to her face and then extended a single finger. Before Stiles could process what was happening he felt himself being lifted from the ground. His body was weightlessly suspended in the middle of the room, and it was so surprising to him that he couldn’t even be scared. He began to drift towards Jennifer, the chins on his legs rattling as they drug across the floor with him.

There were small tendrils of black mist loosely flowing arounds Jennifer’s finger, she rested the finger against his cheek and Stiles could see the mist disperse out of the corner of his eye. The black substance swirled around his head, passing right in front of his eyes before dipping lower and flowing into his mouth. Stiles’ throat burned as he felt the mist travel down his throat. He tried to cough, to spit it out, but Jennifer just smiled and let him drop to the ground.

The last words that Stiles remembered Jennifer saying before his eyes rolled into the back of his skull and he lost consciousness, “I’ll be seeing you, Stiles.”

 

X

 

Derek stared at the picture of Stiles for what felt like hours. It was the worst kind of torture to see him like that, chained up and obviously in pain. Every time he looked at it his eyes found something new about Stiles to obsess over. A new bruise. A new cut. A new way to read the expression in his eyes.

But Derek had to keep looking at it because the picture held the key to finding Stiles. Kate wanted him to come wherever the hell she was keeping Stiles, that much was clear. It was all a game to Kate. She didn’t want Derek to follow her or she’d hurt Stiles, but then she wanted Derek to find her and Stiles.

She was sick, twisted, and Derek knew she was getting off on the whole thing.

Derek sent the picture to his laptop. The tiny screen of his shitty flip phone wasn’t helping his figure out anything. He opened the photo and zoomed in on it, trying not to focus on Stiles while he looked at the things _around_ Stiles.

Stiles was in a room with hardwood floors, that much was obvious. The chains on his ankles were connected to a bolt that had been freshly drilled into the wood, there was even still sawdust around it. Wherever Kate was she hadn’t been there long. The hardwood floors suggested a house.

The window in the upper corner of the picture was just in focus enough to show the tops of trees, so wherever this house was it was at least two stories high and near the woods.

It only took another second for it all to click together.

Derek zoomed in on the wall behind Stiles and he felt his world come crashing down for the third time in under 24 hours.

The paint.

The view of the trees from the window.

The discolored space in the shape of a headboard.

The small char marks on the floorboards.

Stiles was in Derek’s old room, in Derek’s old house.

Kate had taken Stiles back to where everything began, and she wanted Derek to go back too.

Derek would have laughed if he wasn’t so disgusted. In hindsight it was obvious that was where Kate would go. He slammed his computer shut, grabbed his leather jacket off the back of the chair, and made his way out of the apartment. He didn’t bother with the elevator, he simply stepped into the stairwell and vaulted himself over the side of the railing. He really didn’t give a fuck if anyone saw him.

He hit the ground running, literally. He ran out of the stairwell, out of the apartment building, across the street, and into the woods.

Derek knew he had to go alone. Everything inside of him wanted to run to Laura, to tell her everything and make a plan, but Derek had to do this on his own. Kate wanted him alone, and Derek needed to be alone to finally end this. To make up for everything he destroyed.

Someone was going to die tonight, and the only thing Derek knew for a fact above everything else was that it wasn’t going to be Stiles.

 

X

 

Laura never imagined she’d find herself opening the door of the Sheriff’s house to Allison Argent, but there she was. Allison stood on the front porch, a heavy black duffle bag slung over her shoulder, with her heart beating out of her chest. It wasn’t fear that Laura sensed, because she knew enough about Allison to know that if they were to fight it would be a dirty one on both sides, but it was nervousness. She was dressed head to toe in black, heavy combat boots rounding out the entire outfit.

“Alpha Hale.” Allison nodded politely.

Laura took a deep breath and tried to relax herself, “Call me Laura.”

Allison’s shoulders relaxed just a bit, “Laura. Hi.”

“Scott said you had a way to find Stiles?” Laura asked.

“Right.” Allison nodded, she took a step forward but hesitated before crossing the threshold, “My bag has my weapons in it. My bow, knives. There’s no wolfsbane since apparently that doesn’t work on Kate, but…”

Laura realized she was going to have to be the one to take control, to try and make Allison as comfortable as possible. It was a new situation for her too, Allison had probably never walked into a room filled with angry supernatural creatures without the intent of fighting. It was twisted in a way, that Laura _Hale_ should have to make an Argent feel welcome around her pack, but Laura bit back on that particular brand of poison because it wasn’t Allison’s fault her family was fucking psychotic.

“You’re planning on fighting with us?” Laura asked.

She’d assumed Allison would tell them where to find Kate and then point a blind eye at the whole thing, but she’d honestly never expected her to want to go into it with them.

Allison nodded, “Stiles is my friend, he’s never been anything but nice to me. And…and I’m going to be the Argent matriarch sooner rather than later, so it feels like it’s my responsibility to see this though. Kate’s violated the code in so many ways, I can’t just _not_ involve myself in this.”

Laura was slightly taken aback by the earnestness of Allison’s words, she extended her hand, “Allison Agent, as Alpha of the Hale pack I would like to formally extend a temporary alliance with the future matriarch of the Argent hunting family.”

Allison’s throat bobbed when she swallowed, but she slowly reached out and took Laura’s hand into a firm grip, “I accept this temporary alliance.”

Laura stepped to the side and allowed Allison to pass her as she entered the house. She watched Allison walk to the living room before she closed the door, locked it, and let her forehead fall to the wood as she took a deep breath. Laura allowed herself one single second to fall apart, one second to feel all the pain that was trying to claw its way out of her chest, and then she squared her shoulders and walked into the living room.

Allison was pulling a slender laptop out of her bag and setting it on the coffee table when Laura walked into the room. Scott was already pressed close against her side, Lydia in the chair across from them, and the Sheriff was bracing himself against the back of the couch with his hands.

“How is it that you can find Kate when no one else can?” Lydia asked.

Allison looked up from behind the laptop screen, “She has my dad’s SUV.”

“And?” Scott asked.

“ _And_ ,” Allison rolled her eyes, “dad installed a tracking system in it last year after one of the younger hunters took it out for a joyride without his permission. Kate has no idea it’s there because she hasn’t been here in years.”

“You can track the car from your laptop?” The Sheriff asked, the desperation in his voice evident.

Allison smiled at him softly and nodded, “It’s all part of our network, I just have to log in and put in the request. I’ve only seen dad do it once, but it can’t be that hard to figure out.”

Laura stood back and watched her work. Watched as the laptop blinked to life, as Allison opened a black screen only to type in a password and have it replaced by a scrolling bank of information. Allison clicked through several menus before a map of beacon hills filled the screen. She typed in another password, clicked a button, and the screen began to circle.

“It takes a second to triangulate.” Allison looked up at Laura, “How do you want to play this?”

“Do you think Kate is alone?” Laura asked.

“I don’t know,” Allison answered honestly, “my dad said he’d heard about a decent sized group of hunters in the area, but he just figured they were passing through because no one reached out to us like they usually do.”

“Would Kate even have other hunters around? Wouldn’t they turn on her the second they realized she was the Rougarou?” Lydia asked.

“We’ve got to assume she’s not alone wherever she is.” Laura nodded, “If she has other hunters with her it’s likely that she’s just using them as shields or a way to weaken us before we get to her. I don’t care who it is, if they’re standing between us and Stiles then I’m not giving them any mercy.”

Laura looked to Allison for any objections, but Allison shook her head, “If she has other hunters with her then they’re willingly breaking the code by holding Stiles. Stiles is a member of your pack, you’re within your rights to make any effort to get him back. If they don’t agree with that…”

“OK then,” Laura said, “you heard her. They hurt you, we hurt them even more.”

The Sheriff laughed, “I didn’t hear that.”

Laura turned to him and took a deep breath, it was the part of this whole thing that she was dreading most, “And that’s why you can’t come with us.”

The Sheriff’s eyes went wide, “Excuse you?”

“Sheriff,” Laura said softly, “ _Noah_ , I know you want to be there. I know you need to see Stiles for yourself, but you cannot be involved in anything that might happen with Kate. You’re how we clean this up after it’s over, and you need plausible deniability for that.”

Laura could tell he was at war with himself, the two parts of his life battling with each other for control.

Eventually he unclenched his fists, “OK. You’re right.”

Allison’s computer beeped.

“The SUV is somewhere in the preserve.”

Scott shook his head, “We’ve been all over the preserve and didn’t find anything.”

Allison pointed to the screen, “This is where the SUV is. She’s parked about fifteen miles from the closest main road.”

Lydia got up from the chair and stood behind them, leaning forward to look at the screen, “The closest road to where she’s parked is Donner Lane. I didn’t even know there was something called Donner Lane.”

“Donner Lane has been an abandoned road for years,” The Sheriff said, “they closed it down when…”

Laura saw white, the world in front of her bleeding from color and into nothingness. Donner Lane, she’d remember that road anywhere. She remembered the story her mother used to tell her about fighting the city council to get a proper paved road that led out to their property, about how her mother had to front half the cost of it just to get it pushed through, about how her mother had named the road after her late father, the previous Alpha Donner Hale. Laura wanted to kick herself for not even _thinking_ it was a possibility.

It all made sense. Kate’s game, the reason Derek had disappeared off the face of the earth without telling anyone. Kate’s entire plan was laid out in Laura’s brain, and she wasn’t going to let any of it happen.

“I know where she is.” Laura said, “And Derek is there too.”

“What?” Scott looked up, “Where are they?”

“Home.”

 

X

 

There were two heartbeats inside the house, one belonging to Stiles and the other to Kate. They were two heartbeats that Derek would never forget. He’d listened to them both in intimate ways, thought about them when the other person wasn’t around. The only difference was that one of those heartbeats never betrayed Derek, never hurt him so bad that he wanted his own heart to stop beating.

The house was otherwise empty. Derek could hear hunters out in the woods, smell the wolfsbane on them, but they were keeping an intentional distance from the house. He figured they were out there incase the rest of the pack showed up, which Derek expected at any time. Laura was smart, she’d figure out where he was eventually.

That just meant that he had to finish this before she got there.

Derek stepped out of the woods and walked up to the house. It felt different, more foreboding, it was almost like it was an entirely different house from the one that he and Laura had gone back into weeks ago when they thought the Rougarou was Peter. The strange magical presence that was around the house then was gone though, and when Derek opened the door he could immediately tell that the rune that impaired his senses last time was gone.

He was bombarded with the smell of his family, with memories of mornings spent on the couch, evenings spent around a giant dinner table. He could smell everything as if he was just coming back from being at school for the day.

He could also smell the death, the fire, the sorrow.

The entire house shook when Derek slammed the front door closed.

“You made it.”

Kate was standing at the top of the staircase, her arms stretched out along the railing that looked like it was one gust of wind away from falling. The roof next to her was caved in, and Derek knew there was a giant hole in the second floor next to Kate as well. The area under the hole was where Peter had been dug out from, his body burned and scarred by the fire.

“Stiles?” Derek yelled.

“Derek?” Stiles didn’t sound like he believed himself, “Derek? Is that really you?”

“Yeah, Stiles, it’s me.” Derek said, “Hang tight, I’ll come get you in a second.”

“She has a gun,” Stiles yelled, “wolfsbane bullets too.”

Kate sighed, “What did I tell you about giving away my secrets?”

“Fuck you, psychopath.”

Kate laughed, “Derek, your boy toy has quite the mouth on him.”

“Come over here and I’ll show you my fucking teeth!”

“Stiles!” Derek yelled.

Under any other circumstance Derek would find Stiles’ attempts to rile up Kate hilarious, but not when she was closer to him than Derek was himself. Not when Derek didn’t know if he could make it in time if she tried to hurt him.

Derek walked towards the stairs slowly, “You want me. Let him go, Kate.”

Kate reached behind her back and pulled out a silver pistol, she held it lazily in her hand and waved it at Derek, “And what would be the fun in that?”

“Haven’t you had enough fun?” Derek spat, “You’ve killed god knows how many innocent werewolves, humans too. You’ve ruined lives, destroyed families, and you’ve done it all while being like us. You’re a fucking _werewolf_ , Kate. Do you not see how fucked that is?”

Kate’s eyes turned completely black, “I am not a werewolf.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “You shift, you heal, you have enhanced abilities, sounds like you’re a werewolf to me.”

“I’m _better_ than you,” Kate sneered, “I’ve _always_ been better than you. Just because your bitch mother and her witch bitch cursed me doesn’t make me like you.”

“You’re demented,” Derek shook his head, “you’ve been parading around this town for months using your abilities to kill people, to attack Laura and I, to stalk fucking teenagers. You’re really going to stand there and tell me that you’re not the kind of monster your people are supposed to hunt?”

Kate was silent.

“What about Gerard?” Derek asked, “How does your dad feel about his little girl being a monster?”

Kate laughed, her voice booming. The sound of it filled the room, bounced off the walls and echoed in Derek’s head.

“That’s the play you’re going for? You’re going to try to work the daddy’s little girl angle?” Kate asked, “Gerard loves this. Gerard is jealous of me, sweetie. I’m the perfect weapon for him, it’s why he sent me back here in the first place. He wanted me to tie up all the loose ends from the fire, and then I was going to take my place as the Matriarch. I passed it up years ago, but I recently had a change of heart.”

“That’s what all this was for?” Derek could hardly believe that everything that had happened was because Kate wanted to be the head of the family, “You killed people, lured us back to Beacon Hills to kill us, just because you wanted to lead your family?”

Kate shrugged, “Pretty much?”

“And what about Allison?” Derek asked, “Were you going to kill your niece too?”

“I was going to ask her real nicely if she would step aside for me,” Kate smiled, “and if she said no then who’s to say she wouldn’t have an accident out on the firing range? Kids today are so unpracticed with heavy weapons, and lord knows my brother doesn’t teach her well enough to make it a complete impossibility that she’d shoot herself in the face by mistake.”

Derek heard Stiles gasp.

“You and your father are beyond help.” Derek said.

“Please Derek, spare me the sanctimonious judgment on my relationship with my family,” Kate rolled her eyes, “at least I didn’t accidentally get my entire family killed because I couldn’t resist getting my dick wet.”

Derek shifted, his teeth making his words come out with a slight slur, “Shut the fuck up. Now.”

Kate pulled off her leather jacket, “Oh? Did I hit a nerve?”

“I said shut up!” Derek roared, and the railing shook.

“What?” Kate asked, “Oh! Are you afraid of what Stiles will think when he finds out what we used to do together?”

Derek lunged at her, swiping a claw through the air and missing.

“Stiles?” Kate yelled, “Are you listening?”

“Fuck off!” Stiles yelled back.

“Stiles, what would you think if I told you that Derek and I were closer than you thought?” Kate laughed, dodging one of Derek’s fists.

Derek needed to get to her. Needed to make her stop talking before Stiles found out everything. Needed to feel her blood on his hands as he ripped out her throat.

“There he is,” Kate whispered, “there’s the monster I wanted to see. Show me, Derek. Show me how wild you really are.”

Derek threw himself at her, tackling her to the ground. Kate rolled out of Derek’s grip, jamming her elbow down on the center of his spine. Derek howled in pain while Kate stood above him.

“Derek didn’t happen to mention how we really knew each other, did he?” Kate was looking off to the side, in the direction of Derek’s bedroom.

Derek tried to get up, but Kate brought her foot down onto the back of his neck. Derek growled, feeling himself fill with anger and frustration, but he couldn’t get himself free.

“I’ll take your silence as a no.” Kate sighed, “Oh well, I guess that leaves me to tell the story.”

Derek wanted to die. Derek wanted to kill Kate. Derek wanted to curl up into a ball and never think about anything else ever again. Derek wanted to save Stiles. Derek wanted Kate to stop talking.

“It’s a tale as old as time,” Derek could hear the smile in Kate’s voice, “boy meets girl, girl flirts with boy, boy takes girl out into the woods behind his school and loses his virginity by fucking her against a tree.”

Derek could hear the way Stiles’ heart skipped a beat even over the ringing in his ears. He could hear the way Stiles’ breath hitched the second Kate said the words. It was everything he didn’t want to happen, his worst secret he never wanted anyone to know.

Kate continued, “Boy and girl fuck all over town, anywhere they can get their hands on each other. Boy tells girl anything she wants to know, tells her all about his big family and how much he loves them, about how close they are. Girl wants boy to take her to his house, so they can be alone together in his bedroom but boy says he can’t because his parents would know for sure.”

No. No. No. That wasn’t right. That wasn’t how it happened. Derek never wanted to tell Kate any of those things, she always asked him during sex or after. She told Derek they didn’t have to do it again for a third time that night if he would just open up, stop being so closed off, _tell me about your family_. I like you. I want to know more about you.

Kate applied more pressure on the back of Derek’s neck, pushing him down harder. Derek shifted back, his claws retracting and his face smoothing out. It was like Kate was leeching the fight out of him with every word she said. What good was fighting when Stiles would never look at him the same way again? Why bother even trying to save himself when Laura would finally know the truth and not want anything to do with him.

It was one fight that Derek wouldn’t win, _couldn’t_ win.

Derek didn’t even know if he wanted to win anymore.

Stiles was still quite while Kate talked, “Boy _finally_ tells girl what she wants to know. Girl finds out about the secret tunnels under boy’s house that boy used to play in with his sisters. Girl then suddenly has to go out of town and she’ll miss boy very much, boy and girl have one final, mind blowing fuck, and then girl uses everything that boy told her and burns down boy’s house.”

Derek choked out a sob. He didn’t want to cry, he hadn’t cried in years, but he couldn’t stop himself. It was all too much. Too much being pinned under Kate again, too much being in his old house, too much having one of the only new person Derek had let himself care about in years hear everything he hated about himself.

“What do you say, Derek?” Kate whispered, “That sound like the plot of an Oscar winning movie to you? Who do you think they’d get to play me? I think I’m a Megan Fox type myself but I don’t know if she has the chops for the job.”

Derek squeezed his eyes shut, the salt from his tears burning his eyes.

“Kate.” Derek’s voice was rough.

“Yes, sweetie?”

Derek swallowed, “Let Stiles go.”

“And why should I do that?” Kate sounded like she was actually thinking about it.

Derek took a deep breath, “If you let him go, I’ll do anything you want.”

Derek her the smallest hitch in breathing from Stiles, but he still hadn’t said anything.

Stiles was probably too disgusted to even care about him anymore, but that didn’t mean Derek didn’t still care about him. Stiles didn’t deserve to be anywhere near Kate, especially not to be used. Derek could still get Stiles out of there.

“Anything?” Kate’s voce dropped to a seductively low level. The memory of it made Derek want to claw his skin off.

Derek fought away everything in him that wanted to say no, “Yes. Anything.”

Kate lifted her leg from Derek’s neck, and Derek was so broken down and defeated that he couldn’t even try to move. He laid on the floor, his face turned to the side, and looked at a flame kissed wall without even blinking.

Kate crouched down in front of him, he didn’t see her face, but he saw her hand as it moved. A flash of silver filled Derek’s vision and it took him a second to realize what it was.

Kate’s gun. He could smell the wolfsbane.

“Kill yourself.” Kate said, “Take the gun, put it in your mouth, and pull the trigger. You do that, and little Stiles goes free.”

Was that what Kate wanted all along? Did she know it would come to this? Did she just want to break Derek down, take everything from him, and watch as he killed himself because he couldn’t bare the weight of his guilt anymore?

“If you don’t,” Kate placed her finger on the gun, “then I’ll take then gun, make you watch as I shoot Stiles, and then shoot you too. You’re dying either way, but there’s one way that you can save Stiles.”

“Derek…” Stiles finally spoke, “Derek, don’t listen to her.”

“Be quiet, Stiles!” Kate snapped, “Derek has a choice to make.”

Derek knew what he had to do. He pushed himself up on his knees, grabbing the gun as he stood. He held it loosely in his hands, testing the weight of it. Derek had never really held a gun like that before, not with intent, he was surprised at how heavy it was.

“Good boy.” Kate cooed, “Stiles, you might want to close your eyes.”

“Derek!” Stiles’ heart was beating frantically now, “Jesus. Fuck. Derek. Please, god, please don’t do this.”

Derek turned and looked at Stiles, “It’s true. Everything she said. I’m sorry.”

Stiles’ eyes were wide, “Oh my god, Derek. No. No it isn’t.”

Derek nodded, “I did it all. Everyone is dead because of me. You don’t deserve to die because of me too, so I have to do this.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Stiles was yelling now, looking around Derek and at Kate, “You’re fucking sick. I like the directors cut of your fucked up movie instead. Boy meets girl, girl is a sociopathic _rapist_ who takes advantage of a boy grieving the loss of his girlfriend and uses him for information on how to kill his family. Girl, high on her own hubris, comes back to town six years later and dies horribly and painfully. Five stars, two thumbs up, certified fucking fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.”

Kate was distracted by Stiles’ outburst.

Derek lifted the gun and fired, hitting the bolt in the center of the floor that chained Stiles’ ankle to the floor and freeing it. Stiles screamed, and Derek knew he would have to do a lot of apologizing later for making Stiles think he was going to kill himself.

Derek threw himself backwards, his back slamming into Kate and sending them into the railing of the stairs. The railing broke easily, and it was only another second before they were crashing into the ground of the first floor. Kate hit first, and Derek landed on top of her body like a cushion.

Derek rolled off her, Beta shifted, and crouched as Kate stood. Kate’s eyes were completely black again, filled with hate and fury, and she didn’t say anything as she shifted. Derek watched as Kate’s bones broke and reformed, as hair grew across every visible surface of her body, as her clothes were ripped to shreds during the change.

Kate the Rougarou stood in front of him now, bigger stronger, faster.

She and Derek launched themselves at each other at the same time, colliding in the air and tangling together in a flurry of teeth, claws, and blood.

 

X

 

Allison was perched in the top of a tree when Laura climbed up the meet her. Her bow was already out, an arrow knocked in it just in case.

“There are five hunters all fanned out through the woods, they’re guarding the perimeter of the house.” Laura said.

Allison nodded, “How do you want to do this?”

Allison had been deferring to Laura the entire time. She had her own ideas, of course, but this wasn’t her show. She was a guest here, and all she wanted to do was make sure that Stiles was safe, and that Kate was brought to justice.

“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t actually enjoy killing anyone.” Laura shook her head with a sigh, “If you think there’s a chance that these are just random guys that Kate drew into her crazy plan without informing them then see if you can get them to pack up and go home. I’ve got an untrained teenage beta and banshee out here that I’d like to keep out of a fight.”

Allison nodded, slinging her bow over her shoulder and lowering herself down from the tree. Laura’s plan was the easiest, and it was also the most hopeful. Allison hoped that she could just walk up to one of these hunters and throw around her name to get them out of there.

She found one of them easily, he was leaning against a tree and looking in the opposite direction. His back was to the open woods.

Sloppy.

“Excuse me.” Allison said, her voice as strong and confident as she could possibly make it, “Do you realize who’s land you’re on?”

The hunter jumped, spinning around and shoving a rifle in Allison’s face.

Silenced. Automatic. Roughly 80 rounds a minute. She didn’t flinch.

“I asked you a question.” Allison said, “My name is Allison Argent and I-”

“I know who you are,” the hunter cut her off, his trigger finger tightening, “I don’t take my orders from you.”

Allison slowly reached for the small knife behind her back, “And who do you take your orders from? Kate? You don’t know the kind of trouble she’s in and unless you want to go down with her I’d round up your other friends out here and go.”

“I said I don’t take my orders from you, bitch.” The hunter sneered, “You get out of here, you stupid fucking kid.”

The knife was out of its sheath and in Allison’s hands now, “I’m not leaving.”

Allison ducked right as the hunter pulled the trigger, the silenced shots thumping against the hard ground as Allison drove her forearm into the bottom of the rifle. The hunter grunted at the impact, firing off a few more rounds as he stumbled backwards. Allison grabbed the center of the gun, slamming the butt back into the hunter’s face and hearing his nose crack. She wrenched it from his grasp, immediately popping the clip out and firing off the round that was still in the barrel before throwing the gun and clip in separate directions.

“You’re fucking dead, you sympathizing little whore.” The hunter pulled his own knife out now, swiping at Allison.

Allison dodged, but she was a second too late and hissed in pain as the knife cut across the soft skin of her arm. She flipped her blade around in her hand, faking a dodge to the right and hitting the hunter in the face with a left hook. He stumbled backwards but recovered, lunging for her again.

He was bigger than her, and Allison knew she was at a disadvantage just from that alone. Allison leaned back at the last second to avoided being cut across the stomach, she spun and tried to kick the other hunter, but he saw her coming and grabbed her leg before it could make contact.

Allison yelled out as the hunter pulled, yanking her off her feet and tossing her onto the ground. She rolled out of the way just as he stomped his foot on where here head was, but she’d lost her knife in the fall. Her bow was still on her back, but she couldn’t reach it or her arrows.

And then the hunter was knocked off his feet, tackled by two flecks of gold that came flying through the darkness. She listened as they tumbled to the side and scrambled to her feet. She knew she had to recover quickly because Scott was so far out of his element; the hunter was trained to fight inexperienced wolves like Scott.

When Allison got to her feet and looked up she saw the hunter grab Scott by the throat and pin him against the tree. Scott was struggling, clawing at the arm and ripping it into fleshy ribbons, but his brute strength didn’t hold up against the resolve of a trained hunter.

Allison pulled her bow out, then an arrow, and lined up her shot. She took a deep breath, closing one eye before letting the arrow fly. The hunter went limp immediately, releasing his grip on Scott as he felt to the ground.

Scott was clutching his throat when he looked down at the body, saw the arrow that went clean through the neck of the hunter that was trying to kill him, and looked at Allison like he was just seeing her for the first time.

Allison tried not to feel hurt by the look of fear she so clearly saw on his face.

She pulled another arrow from her quiver and looked at Scott, “Let’s go help the others.”

 

X

 

Laura tumbled to the ground as the hunter tackled her from behind. She’d taken care of his gun, but he still felt like he could take on an Alpha werewolf hand to hand. Laura whipped her head back, her skull meeting the hunters face in a violent clash. She elbowed him and felt a rib crack and turned around to grab him by the neck.

 All it took was one quick flick of the wrist to snap his neck. She dropped his body to the ground and it landed next to his friend who was sporting an identical break.

Three down, two to go. Allison had eyes on one, so it was just a matter of finding the last hunter before they could safely make it to the house. They’d have enough to worry about with Kate alone and Laura didn’t want to chance a stray hunter showing up and adding to the fight.

Lydia’s scream pierced the forest, and Laura was finally starting to understand the phrase scream like a banshee. The last hunter went flying just in front of Laura, along with a small tree that landed on top of him. Lydia walked up slowly, her hands pressed gently against her throat.

“I thought I told you to hide.” Laura shook her head. “ _Teenagers_.”

“He was about to shoot you.” Lydia’s voice was barely a rasp, but she pointed to the sniper rifle on the ground next to the hunter.

The hunter was dazed, trying and failing to push the small tree off him. Laura decided to leave him for a minute.

Laura held her hands up, “Alright. Thank you.”

Lydia preened, “You’re welcome.”

Laura was taken aback as Lydia’s eyes started to glow green, but they were back to their normal color the second she blinked. Lydia didn’t say anything, probably didn’t even notice, so Laura decided to table that discussion for later. It would probably be better if Laura talked to Deaton before anyway.

She had zero ideas of how to train a banshee, but she could tell that Lydia would be a valuable member of the pack given time.

“Mine is down, we’re moving to the meeting point.” Allison’s voice drifted from across the forest.

“Go meet Allison.” Laura told Lydia.

Lydia looked at the hunter, then at Laura, and nodded. Turning her back. Laura waited until she was far enough away before she kneeled and grabbed him by the neck. All it took was one quick flick of the wrist.

And just as Laura stood, she heard a gunshot.

 

X

 

Stiles scrambled across the floor once his foot was free, unlooping the chain from around his ankle and tossing it to the side. His hands were still shaking, humming with fear and adrenaline. He couldn’t even begin to process the last few minutes. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to put into words the fear he felt when he thought Derek was about to kill himself.

Fuck.

Stiles was going to kill him for that.

Glass breaking downstairs drew Stiles’ attention. He pushed himself up from the ground and ran out into the burnt-out hallway, trying as hard as he could to dodge anything that would cut into his bare feet. Derek and Kate weren’t downstairs anymore, but the damage from their fight was evident.

Stiles noticed the gun sitting on the floor and he grabbed it after a moment of hesitation, checking the safety to make sure it was on before sliding it in the waistband of his pants. He wasn’t sure what he’d do with the gun, especially since it probably wouldn’t do much against Kate, but it felt better to have something.

A piece of broken glass sliced the bottom of Stiles’ foot as he ran, but he ignored the stinging pain as he burst out the front door of the Hale house to find Kate and Derek in the front yard. Kate was on top of Derek, one clawed hand around his neck while punched him in the face.

It was terrifying to see Kate like that, but it was so obvious that the Rougarou was her now that Stiles couldn’t believe he’d ever thought it was someone else.

Derek was clawing at Kate’s arm, blood all over his hands, but he didn’t seem to be able to loosen her grip at all. Stiles reached back and felt the cold metal of the gun under his hand, he wanted to pull it out and take a shot at Kate, but he wasn’t confident he wouldn’t hit Derek with a wolfsbane loaded bullet. It was agonizing to stand there helpless, but Stiles was nothing more than a human who couldn’t do anything.

And then, as if the universe had been listening, Kate was tackled off top of Derek by a hulking black figure on four legs. It looked back at Stiles, bright red eyes burning in the night, and howled.

Laura ran to Derek, bowing her head and nuzzling into his side. Stiles couldn’t hear if Derek was talking from where he was, but he was back on his feet after Laura helped him up. A flash of gold from the tree line drew Stiles’ attention, and then Scott was sprinting across the field towards Stiles.

Kate noticed Scott though, and Stiles saw the exact moment she gave up focusing on Derek and Laura. Kate broke out into a run, her long limbs blurring with the speed of her movement, and jumped for Scott. Laura was running, but Stiles didn’t think she’d make it in time to stop Scott from getting tackled by Kate’s hulking form.

Laura might not have made it to Kate in time, but someone did. Kate dropped out of the air with a pained howl, rolling onto her side and exposing two arrows sticking out of her flank. Stiles looked up to see Allison standing a few feet behind Scott with another arrow already set in her bow.

“Stiles!” Scott pulled Stiles into a bone crushing hug when he finally made it to him, “Are you OK?”

“I’ve been better.” Stiles answered honestly, “Dude, does Allison know she just shot her aunt?”

Scott looked over his shoulder and nodded, “She knows. She helped us find you.”

“Really?” Stiles was going to have to bump Allison up a few spots on his favorite friends list.

Someone else ran up behind Scott.

“Lydia?” Stiles’ jaw almost dropped to the ground.

“We’re here to save you, don’t thank us.”

Lydia had a bag over her shoulder, and Stiles could only guess what kind of terrifying things she had inside of it.

Kate ripped the arrows out of her body and threw them back at Allison. Allison dodged to the side, drew her bow back, and fired another arrow at Kate. The arrow missed, but it distracted Kate long enough for Derek and Laura to circle around her and attack her from both sides.

Laura had her jaws around one of Kate’s legs and was shaking her head violently like a dog with a new chew toy. Derek had one of her arms, his claws digging in anywhere he could get them. Allison pulled out another arrow, fired it, and hit Kate square in the chest.

“Lydia, stay with Stiles.” Scott said before running off.

Lydia nodded and stood next to Stiles. They both watched as Scott ran towards the fight, jumping through the air and landing on Kate’s back. Scott wrapped his arms around her neck while everyone tried to bring Kate down. It looked like they were winning, but it lasted for just a moment before Kate’s free arm was able to reach back and grab Scott.

Kate grabbed Scott by his hair, twisting her claws into it and yanking him off her back. Stiles watched as she tossed Scott like a ragdoll at Allison. Allison didn’t move out of the way in time and Scott’s body slammed into her, sending them both to the ground.

She was able to shake free of Derek, and then grabbed Laura by the scruff of her neck and tried to repeat the same move.

Derek wasn’t hit by Laura’s body though, he jumped into the air and caught her as she fell. He tucked Laura into his side before they hit the ground, and they both rolled out of their fall and were back on the attack.

The three wolves danced around the field trading blows with each other when they could. Derek and Laura had the advantage of knowing how the other fought, and they often moved in tandem to land seamless blows. Kate had the advantage of hunter training, she knew how to evade attacks from werewolves and she had the advantage of the same enhanced strength and speed on her side too.

Stiles and Lydia ran to Scott and Allison while the other three fought. Allison was just picking herself up from the ground when they made it to them.

“Stiles are you OK?” Allison rubbed the back of her neck and winced.

“I should be asking you that.” Stiles smiled, “I’ve had Scott land on top of me before, I know how much it hurts.”

“Rude as hell, dude.” Scott groaned, “Kate is too strong.”

Stiles could tell Derek was starting to get tired. He wasn’t moving as fast as before, and his attacks were starting to get sloppy. Laura looked like she still had stamina, but she could only last so long.

Stiles turned to Lydia, “What do you have in your bag?”

Lydia pulled out a clear jar of black powder, “Laura said this might be useful.”

Mountain ash.

“Kate’s moving too fast for us to be able to trap her.” Allison said, “It could work in theory, but I don’t think we can all hold her down.”

Stiles looked from the jar to Lydia, “Lydia could.”

Lydia reached up and touched her throat, “I…I still don’t know how all this works. I’ve only been able to do it twice.”

“You can do it,” Stiles said, “I saw how Kate reacted to your scream at the library, it stopped her in her tracks completely. If you can hold it long enough to keep her down, then I can circle her in the ash and we can end this whole thing once and for all.”

Lydia took a deep breath, and then nodded, “You’ve got to get me closer to her.”

Allison picked up her bow, her quiver, “I can help you with that.”

“I’m gonna go help Laura and Derek.” Scott gave them all one last look before running back to the fight.

“When we get close enough I’m going to try and draw her attention with my arrows again,” Allison flicked her head towards Kate, “that should give Lydia enough time to get in and take her down.”

Lydia’s eyes were wide with panic, but Stiles reached down and squeezed her hand, “You can do this.”

Lydia swallowed, “Alright. Let’s go.”

The three of them ran forward, stopping about halfway from Kate and the rest of the fight. Allison puled three arrows out of her quiver at once, set them in her bow, and then fired them in a volley one at a time.

One.

Two.

Three.

The arrows hit Kate just seconds apart, one in her back, one in her shoulder, and one in her leg.

Allison fired another arrow, this time hitting Kate in the stomach. Kate ripped them all out and threw them on the ground and began walking towards Allison with a slow limp.

“Go.” Allison said quickly.

Stiles and Lydia split off to the side. Lydia went right. Stiles went left. Allison stayed in the center firing arrow after arrow at Kate. Kate was hit with each arrow and ripped them out as she went along, leaving a bloody trail of broken arrows in her wake.

Just as Kate was about to reach Allison, Stiles yelled, “Hey Kate!”

Kate turned, black eyes directly on Stiles.

Stiles smiled, “Girl meets banshee.”

Kate turned just in time to see Lydia open her mouth and scream. The force of Lydia’s voice shook the trees, birds flying out of the limbs as the leaves rustled. The sound was deafening, and Stiles worried for a second what would happen if his ears started to bleed.

Kate fell to her knees as Lydia kept screaming. The force of Lydia’s scream blew a small hole in the ground, the grass being ripped by the earth while the ground cracked. Lydia’s face was red but she kept going, never once pausing to take a breath. She should have passed out from lack of oxygen by now, but there wasn’t a single interruption to the flow of her scream.

Stiles opened the jar of mountain ash as Kate fell onto her side and curled into the fetal position. He started on the side farthest away from Lydia’s scream, pouring the ash onto the ground and forming as tight a circle as possible. Lydia locked eyes with him and nodded just before Stiles passed in front of the area of her scream. She closed her mouth and fell to her knees as she gasped for air.

Kate was still on her side, her giant paws trying desperately to cover her ears. Stiles finished the circle around her before Kate could react and he stumbled backwards hoping that the circle wasn’t broken in any spot.

When the ringing in Stiles’ ears subsided, the field was eerily quiet. The only sounds were the labored breathing of everyone in the area. Stiles caught Derek’s eye from across the way and smiled.

Derek was bloody, his clothes were torn to shreds and he looked like he was missing part of his throat, but he was alive.

Allison was next to Lydia rubbing her back, and Scott came to a stop next to them. Scott was less bloody then Derek, but Stiles never wanted to see his best friend with any blood on him at all. Stiles only saw Laura’s tail as she disappeared into the woods, but a few moments later she was walking back out of the woods on two legs and dressed more appropriately.

Everyone was alive.

Everyone was alive, and Kate was a useless heap in a mountain ash prison.

Stiles didn’t care how bloody and disgusting Derek was, he ran across the field and threw himself at him. Derek responded easily, opening his arms and then wrapping them around Stiles. Stiles couldn’t even complain that Derek was about to break his spine, because at least Derek was there to break his spine.

“Are you OK?” Derek asked.

Stiles nodded against his chest, “You?”

“Noting that won’t heal.”

Stiles pushed back from Derek and smiled, “Good.”

And then Stiles balled his hand into a fist and punched Derek in the shoulder.

“Stiles!” Derek hissed in pain.

Stiles glared at him, “That was for the bullshit you pulled upstairs!”

Derek looked at the ground, “I’m…I was never going to. I had to make her think I was.”

Stiles didn’t have anything else to say about it right now. The anger and the fear leached out of him and all he wanted to do was wrap himself up in Derek after a clean shower.

Stiles sat Kate’s gun on the ground and kicked it away from both of them.

Another pair of arms closed around them, and Stiles looked up to see Laura smiling at him.

“Glad you’re OK.” Laura smiled, “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“Die of boredom?” Stiles offered.

Laura laughed and released them both from the hug, and then she glared at Derek harder than Stiles had ever seen someone glare at another person, “We _will_ be talking about how stupid it was to come here by yourself.”

Derek nodded, “I’m sorry.”

Laura hugged him again, “Don’t do that shit, you’re all I have left.”

“Well isn’t this touching.”

Everyone’s heads turned at the same time to see Kate sitting on the ground in the center of the mountain ash circle. She was just barely covered by the torn clothes she’d had on before shifting into the Rougarou, and she was flicking the invisible wall of the circle. A small ripple formed in the air every time her finger hit it, like a rock thrown into a still pond.

The circle worked.

“Shut the fuck up, Kate.” Laura growled.

“Allison, sweet little Ally Kat.” Kate shook her head, “Your parents would be disgusted if they could see you right now.”

“The only disgusting person here is you, Kate.” Allison said, “You’ve gone against everything we stand for. You’re worse than anything I’ve ever encountered.”

“And that’s why you’d make a terrible Matriarch.” Kate spat, “You’d run this family into the ground with your stupid fucking morals and your ideals. Your _code_. Newsflash, Allison! It’s either them or us.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong, Kate.” Allison slowly walked forward, “You live in this fantasy world where you’re the good guy, where you’re always right. The superior one. The ends always justifies the means for you.”

Allison stopped in front of Kate’s gun and grabbed it before walking forward again, “But this is the real world, Kate. Things aren’t black and white, and you can’t kill someone just because they’re different than you. You can’t go around and kill people because they helped you cover up your mass murder, you can’t kidnap someone because you want to use them in your twisted chess game.”

“Does this speech have a point?” Kate rolled her eyes.

Allison stopped on the right side of the mountain ash circle, “Kate Argent, as the matriarch of the Argent family I have seen your crimes, seen the evidence, and passed my judgment. For the violation of the code, for the death of three innocent humans, and for the entire Hale family, I find you guilty.”

“Fine. Lock me up and throw away the key.” Kate spun her fingers around in a lazy circle, “Congratulations, the good guys win.”

Allison lifted the gun and pointed it at Kate, and Stiles realized what was happening. He must have been the last one, because everyone else was either watching with rapt attention or turning their head away from what was in front of them. Stiles moved forward, not because he wanted to save Kate, but because he didn’t think that Allison should have to be the one to do this.

Derek’s hold on his wrist tightened, and when Stiles looked back all Derek did was gently shake his head. Laura and Allison shared a look, and Laura nodded.

Kate rolled her eyes, “Oh please, you’re not going to shoot m-”

Allison pulled the trigger, and the gunshot echoed through the forest. Blood splattered across Allison’s cheek, and Kate’s limp body fell to the ground. When Kate’s head hit the grass it was outside of the mountain ash circle.

Laura and Derek’s eyes were focused intensely on Kate’s body, as if they were waiting for her to get back up and attack again. But Stiles knew, he could tell that she was gone for good.

“Stiles call your dad,” Allison’s eyes were wide and glassy, “tell him we have to report a suicide.”

Kate Argent was dead.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yooooooo we did it! there's only three chapters left now! i know that kate's fate is going to be #controversial because a lot of you have expressed that you wanted to see laura or derek kill her, but it was always my intention to have allison do it because of what i have planned for her. but hey, a dead kate argent is a dead kate argent no matter who did it! 
> 
> also, she's like for real for real dead lmao just making that clear


	32. Golden Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~tw~ a few discussions of fleeting suicidal thoughts, but nothing worse than last chapter

 

 

 

Chapter 32

Golden Hour

_In photography, the golden hour is a period shortly after sunrise or before sunset during which daylight is redder and softer than when the sun is higher in the sky._

“Ouch,” Stiles hissed, “god!”

“There’s no god here, Stiles. Just me.” Melissa shook her head, though the fond smile betrayed her tone.

Melissa poured even more alcohol onto yet another cotton ball and looked at Stiles with a challenge in her eyes. Stiles tried his hardest to glare back at her, but he was all out of glaring energy having used it up on his kidnapper. He huffed, threw up his arms, and extended his foot to her.

“This one is going to hurt most of all.” Melissa warned.

As if he was telepathically contacted by Melissa, which honestly wouldn’t have been the strangest thing to happen in the last week, Derek appeared and dropped down onto the couch next to Stiles. Derek didn’t say anything as he reached over and placed both his hands on Stiles’ shoulders. Stiles couldn’t quite figure out what was going on, that was until Melissa started to disinfect the cuts on his feet.

Stiles immediately tried to flee, his midsection arching comically off the couch as Melissa held him by the legs and Derek held him by the shoulders.

“You two are evil!” Stiles hissed, “And I say that as someone who was just kidnapped so I now have a very large barometer for evil.”

“Shut up, Stiles.” Derek said, but the words lacked the heat or sarcasm they normally did.

Derek sounded…sad. And tired. Tired and sad, which Stiles couldn’t blame him, not with everything that went on inside the house with Kate. Stiles looked up at him, blinked a few times, and then tried to smile through the rest of the pain.

Stiles wasn’t the only one who was hurt tonight.

“Thank you.” Derek sad so softly that Stiles wasn’t sure he was even supposed to hear it.

Everyone else milled around the house anxiously, all of them fluttering at the edge of Stiles’ peripheral vision. Everyone wanted to swamp him the second the door to his house closed, but they were quickly driven off by the surprisingly terrifying duo of Derek and Melissa, nurse extraordinaires.

Stiles’ back still hadn’t recovered from the crushing hug his dad had pulled him into upon seeing him, so Stiles was a little grateful for the isolation. He was glad that everyone was glad he was ok, but Stiles couldn’t help but feel guilty for making them worry so much.

If he’d just done things differently, if he hadn’t gone outside in the middle of the night.

“Stop.” Derek said, squeezing Stiles’ shoulder.

Stiles jumped, startled, “Stop…what?”

“Thinking.” Derek said, “Overanalyzing. Trying to figure out what you could have done differently.”

“OK, _seriously_ ,” Stiles’ jaw dropped, “you’ve been lying to me this entire time when you told me that ESP wasn’t a part of the werewolf package, haven’t you?”

Derek laughed softly, “No, Stiles. It was written all over your face. None of this was your fault.”

Stiles felt his throat clench at the words.

They hadn’t talked about anything that happened inside the house, Stiles didn’t want other people around when they did. Stiles wasn’t even sure if Derek would talk about what happened, or if Derek would just sweep it up and lock it somewhere deep inside him with all his other trauma. Stiles didn’t want Derek to keep hurting himself like that, but he also didn’t want to force the issue on Derek.

With great care and trepidation, Stiles whispered softly so only Derek would hear, “None of it was your fault either.”

Stiles was sure if he was a werewolf he would have heard Derek’s heart skip a beat.

“Alright,” Melissa finished bandaging the final cut on his foot, “you are good to go. Keep the back of your neck dry for the next couple days and change the bandages if they get gross, but otherwise you’re all set.”

“Are you sure?” His dad appeared literally out of nowhere, “I still think we should take him to the hospital.”

Stiles sighed, “Dad, how would we explain the two very obvious stun gun marks on the back of my neck? The whole _‘Stiles is an awkward clumsy mess who can’t walk in a straight line safely’_ explanation only stretches so far.”

Lydia hummed, “I don’t know, I wouldn’t put it past you to fall onto a taser honestly.”

“Thanks.” Stiles said drily.

Lydia’s voice was still a hoarse rasp, but it was already recovering quicker than it did the first time she used her scream.

“He’s fine.” Melissa pulled his dad into a hug, “He doesn’t have a concussion, there’s no signs of any trauma from the taser. The worst thing we have to watch out for is the cuts on his feet getting infected.”

His dad sighed, “Alright. Thank you.”

Melissa nodded and walked over to place a kiss on the top of Stiles’ head, “I’m going home and going to sleep. I’m just going to assume it’s fine for Scott to stay here tonight.”

His dad nodded, “Of course. I’ll call you in the morning.”

Melissa smiled, “Make it the afternoon.”

Melissa made a surprised sound when she opened the door, and Stiles tensed for just a moment before he turned around to see Allison and Laura in the doorway. Melissia smiled at them and stepped aside before trading places with them and closing the door behind her.

Allison and Laura looked rough, both were covered in dirt from head to toe, and Stiles was fairly sure that Laura still had dried blood on her hands.

His dad gave him a kiss on the head before he closed his eyes and went upstairs. He didn’t want to know what they were doing, couldn’t know officially, and plausible deniability only went so far when someone looked like they’d been outside burying bodies.

Laura came around the back of the couch and dropped her chin on the top of Stiles’ head, “You good?”

Stiles nodded, feeling Laura’s head move with his, “Is everything in order?”

Allison looked towards the stairs for a moment, “We don’t have to worry about the bodies of the other hunters, and tomorrow someone will find Kate’s clothed body in the woods with her gun and a suicide note confessing to all her crimes in her lap.”

Stiles felt Derek stiffen next to him, so he leaned in just slightly enough to let Derek know that he was next to him. He couldn’t imagine the things that were going through Derek’s head, but hopefully Derek would talk to him about it sooner rather than later.

“So it’s over?” Lydia asked, “All of this is done?”

“I think so.” Laura whispered, “I really think so.”

Allison sat down on the coffee table in front of Stiles, “Stiles, you were in the house with Kate. Is there anything you can think of that we’re missing?”

Stiles wanted to answer no, but he hesitated. He thought back to the house, waking up after getting taken by Kate. He remembered her taunting him and then taking the picture to send to Derek, and then she was gone. Stiles couldn’t honestly remember what happened after that. He remembered Kate leaving, and then the next thing he knew she was back and Derek was entering the house.

 Maybe he fell asleep?

But he didn’t remember falling asleep. He closed his eyes and thought as hard as he could, trying to fight though some kind of hazy mist in his brain. Fuck, maybe he did end up with brain damage from Kate and her liberal use of her stun gun. His head began to throb violently the more he tried to think about what happened before Derek showed up to rescue him, it felt like someone was taking a power drill to the center of his skull.

Stiles let out a pained cry and grabbed his head, clutching at his temples and pressing down to try and alleviate the pressure building in his skull. He could hear everyone moving around him, but the only thing that mattered was the pain in his brain.

“Stiles!” Derek’s hands on his shoulders brought Stiles back to alertness.

He locked eyes with Derek and then suddenly, just as quickly as it began, the headache stopped. Stiles let out a relieved sigh and fell backwards, pushing himself deeper into the comfortable cushions out the couch.

“Stiles, what the hell what that?” Derek asked.

Stiles wet his dry lips, “Nothing. It was just a headache, Derek.”

“That seemed like more than a headache.” Scott hesitated, “Maybe your dad was right and we do need to take you to the hospital.”

Stiles shook his head, “Dude, you heard your mom. I’m fine, she said that headaches would be normal for the next few days.”

Everyone looked hesitant to believe that. Stiles loved them all, he really did, but he wished they’d stop looking at him like he was about to fall apart.

“It’s late,” his dad came back downstairs at the sound of the commotion, “I know it must be a…werewolf thing to want to be around each other, but I think it would be best for Stiles to have some alone time to sleep.”

Stiles let out a sigh of relief. It was basically everything he’d wanted to say but just didn’t have the heart or words to vocalize. His dad looked at him like he knew that exactly, and he squeezed his shoulder once with a smile.

Laura stood and clapped her hands together, “The sheriff is right, we’re hovering.”

“I mean…I wasn’t going to say anything.” Stiles shrugged.

Everyone laughed. Everyone except Derek.

Derek stood awkwardly and muttered a stilted apology before bolting for the door. Stiles was actually surprised that Derek took the time to even open the door instead of busting through it and leaving a Derek shaped hole in it. Stiles couldn’t even be angry or annoyed, if anyone else needed alone time after tonight it would be Derek.

Stiles yawned, louder than he intended to, and that seemed to be the cue for everyone to start to shuffle out of the room. He batted away Scott and Laura’s offers to carry him to his room, hugged Lydia, and then stopped at the foot of the stairs.

“I’ll sleep down here.” Scott said.

Stiles shook his head, “Nah, it’s fine.”

Scott didn’t reply, he just jumped over the back of the couch and pulled the throw blanket down over his body. Stiles wasn’t in the mood to argue, and he was secretly glad he’d be able to spread out in his bed alone.

“I had glass in my feet, not a spinal reconstruction.” Stiles huffed as he dad followed him closely up the stairs, his hand pressed against Stiles’ back like he expected him to fall backwards any second.

“Don’t even joke about that.” His dad’s tone was clipped, and Stiles could hear the exhaustion in it.

“Sorry.” Stiles mumbled, “I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, kid.”

“I got kidnapped.”

“Being kidnapped isn’t your fault.”

“Technically I did go outside in the middle of the night when there was a known homicidal maniac stalking me.”

“A lack of judgment does not a kidnapping deserve.”

“That doesn’t even make sense, dad.”

“Go to sleep.”

Stiles closed the door, stripped off his shirt, checked the lock on his window, and fell into bed.

 

X

 

Derek managed to make it home before Laura, and all he’d done since she’d gotten home was pretend to be asleep. He knew that they needed to talk about a lot of things, but Derek didn’t know if he had the courage to do it. Derek didn’t think he was good for much of anything lately, and it felt like things just kept reaffirming that fear.

He couldn’t keep Stiles safe, he couldn’t save him on his own, he couldn’t even come face to face with Kate without breaking down and thinking about killing himself for just a split second.

It had been a long time since Derek had felt that powerless, that helpless, and it had been a long time since Derek even thought about taking a way out of the walking nightmare that was his life. He’d thought about it constantly in the early days after his family died, and the only thing that had kept him around was Laura. Derek would never have done that to Laura, he could never have taken away the last piece of family she had left.

Slowly, Derek had learned how to combat those thoughts until they disappeared completely. It seemed like a terrible sense of dramatic irony that Kate Argent in the flesh would be the one to bring them back. It was just a split second of a thought, but it was there, and Derek had almost done what she wanted. Maybe it was a good thing because it allowed him to sell the lie, that one second of contemplation allowed him to surprise Kate because she knew he wasn’t lying. But in the same way that Derek couldn’t have done that to Laura, he also couldn’t have done that to Stiles.

Stiles, who was smarter than even Derek had given him credit for. Stiles, who had apparently figured out what happened between him and Kate. Stiles, who had figured out what happened to Paige.

Jesus.

All those weeks spent terrified of what Stiles would think if he knew the truth about Kate, and Stiles knew the entire time. Stiles knew when he saved Derek’s life, Stiles knew the night they spent pressed together in bed.

Stiles knew, and it was Stiles who snapped him out of it in the house with Kate. It was almost too much to take. Derek rethought every interaction he’d ever had with Stiles, looking at everything with new eyes and the knowledge that Stiles knew his darkest secret. He didn’t understand how Stiles could have…fallen for him knowing everything.

But Stiles did. Stiles knew, and Stiles still cared about him.

Derek pushed himself up and out of the bed. He walked on autopilot down the hallway, and then up the stairs until he found Laura. Laura was sitting on the couch, a soft blanket pulled over her shoulders and a book in her hand. The steaming cup of coffee on the table next to her told Derek that she was having just as much of a hard time sleeping as he was.

Derek wondered if she was having a hard time thinking it was real, a hard time believing that Kate was dead. Kate had been an axe handing over their heads for years, and she was gone just like that.

“Der?” Laura looked up from her book.

Derek blinked, snapping out of his trance.

“I’m sorry.” Derek’s voice was a hushed whisper, “I’m so sorry for everything.”

Laura folded her book closed and looked at him with her dark eyes, “Derek?”

“I…”

Laura stood from the couch, pulling the blanket off her shoulders and draping it over Derek when she got to him. Derek reveled in the softness of the fabric, wanted to pull it closer to him until he was swallowed in it. He let Laura guide him back to the couch, sat quietly and without argument when Laura softly nudged him to take a set.

Laura didn’t speak, and it took longer than normal for Derek to realize that Laura was waiting for him to make the first move. He didn’t like the pressure of that position, but he hated the awkward silence between them even more.

“I shouldn’t have gone by myself,” Derek said softly, “I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t have.” Laura agreed, “But it was a fucked up situation and I know why you did it.”

Derek laughed bitterly, “Right.”

Laura ignored it, “Kate wanted you to come on your own as part of her personal brand of torture.”

Derek took a deep breath, “She wanted me to kill myself. She gave me a gun filled with wolfsbane and told me to kill myself and she’d let Stiles go.”

Derek didn’t have to be a werewolf to hear how Laura’s heart stuttered.

“She’s lucky she’s dead.” Laura whispered, “I’m half tempted to track down a necromancer to bring her ass back just so I can kill her again.”

“I need to tell you something else.” Derek said, ice flowing through his veins.

“OK?” Laura leaned into his side, “I’m here, Der. I’m always here.”

“You won’t be after I tell you this.” The words were like poison in Derek’s mouth. Poison he’d rather swallow than let out into the universe.

“You know that isn’t true.” Laura said.

“I slept with Kate.” The words came out in a rush, jumbled together like a tongue twister. The only reason Derek knew that Laura realized what he said was the way her body tensed next to his.

“Der-”

Derek cut her off, “After Paige died…I met Kate, and we slept together. I told her things about our family, about mom and dad, about you. I didn’t know who she was, and I don’t think I really cared at the time. Everything hurt back then but Kate made it not hurt for a little bit, and then Kate made me hurt even more before she even killed out family. I didn’t want to anymore, but Kate kept finding me, kept making me do things, kept making me tell her stuff. I told her about the basement and how we used to play in the secret tunnels, that was how Kate knew about them. I’m the reason our family is dead. I’m the reason we have no one left.”

Derek’s entire body was shaking by the time he finished talking. Everything poured out of him, years of terror and repressed memories spilling out like a broken dam. Laura’s breathing next to him was shallow, her eyes were cast towards the floor and her lips were pulled into a deep frown.

 Derek knew what was coming next, “I’ll pack a bag and go.”

Laura’s head snapped up, “What?”

Derek’s back was to her as he made his way towards the stairs, “I’ll…find somewhere to go.”

“ _Derek Hale_.” Laura’s voice was a growl of an order.

Derek swallowed the lump in his throat and turned slowly, flinching when his eyes met the deep red of his sisters.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Laura asked.

“You want me to go,” Derek whispered, “so I’m going to go.”

“Why would I want you to go?” Laura’s eyes faded back to normal.

“I’ve lied to you for years.” The words tasted like ash in his mouth, “I’m the reason we have nothing.”

Laura’s hands relaxed from clenched fists and she raked both hands through her hair before tossing it over her shoulder, “Let’s get one thing clear: you’re not the reason for anything bad happening to this family. Kate is, has been, and always will be the only one who did anything wrong.”

“La-”

“No! It’s my turn to talk,” Laura held up a single finger, “There is nothing you could ever do or tell me that would make me send you away. You’re my brother, you’re all I have left. I would have literally nothing without you, do you understand that? I could have the biggest pack on the planet, but it would mean fucking nothing without you in it.”

Derek wiped away the tears in his eyes with the back of his hand.

Laura took a deep breath before continuing, “And for what it’s worth, I already knew all of this.”

Derek’s jaw didn’t drop to the floor, but it was a close thing, “You what?”

Laura scrubbed a hand over her face, “I thought for a while you were just grieving, but your self-destructiveness kept getting worse, it went from sitting out on the fire escape in the middle of a blizzard to picking fights with hunters in the back alleys of the lower west side. I noticed the way you would flinch away from people when they tried to touch you, even me for a little while, and I heard you at night when you cried.”

Derek’s mouth was dry. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even think.

“I started to put it all together about a year after we got to New York, but once I did it all made sense. I could never understand how everything happened to perfectly for Kate, how she seemed to know the layout of the house. I was angry at you for a second, just a literal second, and then I was angry for you. I was mad at myself for not being able to protect you, for not realizing how bad you were hurting after Paige, for leaving you when you felt so alone in the world. I hated myself for letting her get to you, but I _never_ hated you.”

“You never said anything.” Derek whispered.

“I didn’t know how to,” Laura admitted, “I could tell you didn’t want me to know and I was worried that if I told you I did that you would leave, that you would think I was angry at you. Maybe I fucked up, maybe I should have sat you down sooner and told you that none of this was your fault, but I just…fuck…I didn’t know how to do it without hurting you even more.”

Derek took a second to think about what she was saying. He was mad at her for not saying something sooner, wondering that maybe if she’d said something he could have stopped hurting himself a long time ago, but the more Derek thought about it the more he realized that it probably wouldn’t have helped him back then.

“I don’t think I would have listened to you.” Derek admitted, “Not then. I... I wasn’t ready to forgive myself.”

Laura rushed forward and wrapped him into a hug. Derek was almost sure he felt a bone crack, maybe a rib, but he didn’t care. He hugged her back, holding onto Laura tighter than he’d ever held onto her before. He needed to feel her arms around him, to feel her heart beating against his chest.

Laura was his sister. Laura was home.

“Do you forgive yourself now?” Laura whispered in his ear, her words watery with unshed tears.

Derek nodded, “I think I can start to.”

 

X

 

Stiles looked at the blinking digital clock next to his bed. It was almost 4am and he hadn’t gotten a bit of sleep since everyone was sent home. He could hear Scott snoring downstairs, and he hadn’t heard his dad wake up at all during the night, so Stiles assumed he was the only one with the problem.

It wasn’t that he was scared to go to sleep, or that he was dreading the thought of potential nightmares, he just couldn’t seem to be able to close his eyes without buzzing with electricity. His body felt frenetic, like he needed to get up and move around still. Maybe it was the last dredges of adrenaline burning through his body, or maybe it was the Adderall he’d taken earlier in the day, but whatever it was it was preventing him from being able to sleep.

It might have been the reason Stiles didn’t even startle when he heard three soft taps at his window. He just let out an amused huff, got out of bed, and gently walked over to the window while trying to avoid stepping on the parts of his feet that still hurt.

Derek’s blue eyes were the only thing visible in the cloudy night, “Of course this is the night you finally learn to lock the window.”

Stiles leaned against the sill, “Being kidnapped does make you rethink your safety practices.”

“I’m glad you can joke about it.” Derek grumbled.

Stiles shrugged, “I figure it’s easier to joke about it than let it freak me the fuck out for the rest of my life.”

“Is that why you’re not sleeping right now?” Derek asked, finally pulling himself into the room.

Stiles didn’t answer until he was back in his bed, propping his feet up on a stray pillow, “I’ve got too much energy inside of me, it feels like I’m on fire if I try to fall asleep.”

“That doesn’t sound normal.” Derek said hesitantly.

“It sounds like ADHD and a traumatic experience.” Stiles said, “At least I think. I don’t plan on doing anything tomorrow but sleeping all day so I’m hoping I’ll just burn out and start hibernating at some point.”

Derek didn’t say anything in reply, and the room fell into an awkward silence. Stiles wondered why Derek was there, not that he minded it, but he was too frayed at the edges to try and carry on an unspoken conversation.

Stiles laid back in the bed and stretched his arms over his head before looking up at Derek, “You joining me?”

Derek looked taken aback by the question, but eventually he shook his head slightly. Stiles tried not to feel a jolt of disappointment shoot through him, but he couldn’t really begrudge Derek his personal space after what happened.

Derek cleared his throat a few seconds later, and when Stiles looked up he was standing over his bed with an outstretched hand.

“I…” Derek’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, “I want to take you somewhere.”

Stiles sat up, a single eyebrow raised, “Now? Like…in the middle of the night now?”

Derek nodded, “If you want to.”

Stiles nodded quickly, “Yeah. Of course I do.”

Stiles stood from the bed too quickly, forgetting about the cuts on his feet, and yelped in pain as he stumbled into Derek’s chest. Derek caught him, strong arms tightening around his back, and Stiles’ cheek vibrated as a low rumbled rolled through Derek.

“Sorry.” Stiles whispered, “I keep forgetting about my feet.”

Derek’s arms tightened even more, “Don’t apologize.”

“I don’t know how far I’ll be able to walk on this excursion.” Stiles frowned.

Derek didn’t say anything as he unwrapped his arms around Stiles. He gently pushed Stiles backwards, using his hands on Stiles’ shoulders to make sure he was steady. When Derek was apparently satisfied with Stiles’ stability he turned his back to him, and Stiles thought Derek was about to leave. He stood there staring at Derek’s back, at the bit of black ink poking out of the collar of his shirt, until Derek looked over his shoulder.

“Are you getting on?”

Stiles sputtered, “What?”

Stiles didn’t have to see Derek’s face to know there was an epic eye roll happening, “I’ll carry you, we’re not going far.”

Stiles still felt dumbstruck, “You want me to…ride you?”

Stiles figured it was a miracle that the choking sound Derek made didn’t wake up half the town.

“Right!” Stiles said quickly, “I am climbing on your back now.”

Derek’s head shook, “Thank you.”

It was awkward at first, but after a few seconds Stiles thought he’d figured out a good positioning for his arms. He draped both his arms over Derek’s shoulders, loosely linking them around Derek’s neck as he hoisted his body up onto Derek’s back. Derek’s hands reached under Stiles’ thighs to hold him steady, and Stiles thought of anything he possibly could to stop himself from popping the worlds most awkward boner right into Derek’s back.

“Wrap your legs around me.”

Stiles complied, his legs wrapping around Derek’s stomach and crossing at the ankles. Derek walked across the room as casually as he could, like Stiles was nothing more than a weightless backpack on his shoulders.

Derek lifted the window, “Keep your head down.”

Stiles ducked as Derek maneuvered them through the window. He was legitimately shocked that both of them made it through without any broken glass, but Stiles figured Derek had enough practice with escaping through windows so it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise.

They were on the roof when it dawned on Stiles, “Wait! My dad…if he wakes up and I’m gone I don’t know what he’ll think.”

Derek shook his head, the back of his hair bristling against Stiles’ nose, “I sent him a text telling him I was with you in case he wakes up.”

Stiles blinked, “You text my dad now?”

Derek’s answer was a smirk that Stiles could just barely see over his shoulder.

Derek walked across the roof with all the grace of a cat, and it wasn’t until they were standing at the edge of it that Stiles realized they had to get down.

“So how does this happen?” Stiles pointed towards the ground, “Is this a ‘hold on tight, spider monkey’ kind of situation?”

Derek groaned, “Oh god, please don’t. Laura quoted that move every day for a month after we saw it.”

Stiles leaned in close enough for the breath of his words to tickle Derek’s ear, “I know what you are-”

Derek jumped from the roof. Stiles didn’t have time to process what was happening, let alone scream for his life, before they were back on the ground. Stiles could feel his heart pounding out of his chest, and by the way Derek laughed Stiles was sure he could hear it too.

“Say it out loud.” Derek’s voice dropped to a husky tremble.

“You’re fucking _evil_.” Stiles hissed.

Derek shrugged, moving Stiles with his shoulders, “It took your mind off of it though, right?”

Stiles sighed and dropped his head on the back on Derek’s neck, kicking at his sides like a horse, “Onward.”

Derek rolled his eyes but started to run, “Asshole.”

Stiles kept his eyes closed for most of the run, and it was totally because he didn’t want to get sick from how fast they were moving and totally not because he was terrified. They maneuvered through the woods, Derek jumping over fallen trees and sliding over wet grass. Stiles knew on some level that Derek could move fast, but he never thought he’d experience it like that.

They came to a stop at a small park that was less than a mile from Stiles’ house. It was a park he’d driven past for years now, but he couldn’t remember ever actually playing at it when he was younger. It was old, from the days when parks were still built with wood over metal, and the swing set looked like it had seen better days.

Stiles kept any smart comments to himself, if Derek brought him here specifically there had to be a reason for it. Derek walked them over to the swings and Stiles hopped down, dropping himself onto one of the most stable looking swings on the line. Derek stood in front of him, looking down at Stiles with a small smile.

“Want me to push you?” Derek asked.

“Sure.” Stiles said, his voice almost a whisper, “Just don’t forget I’m a squishy human.”

Derek walked behind Stiles, and Stiles leaned into the touch when he felt both of Derek’s hand press against his back.

“I’d never forget that.”

Stiles barely heard Derek over the squeaking of the swing as Derek began to push him. It was relaxing in a way that Stiles never thought was possible, letting his body fly weightlessly through the night for a few seconds before it was brought back and he was grounded by Derek’s touch. The night was perfect, quiet but not deafeningly so. Cool enough to feel the heat of Derek’s hands trough his shirt.

After a few minutes of swinging, Derek caught Stiles body and didn’t push him again. Stiles looked up and found Derek looking up at the stars that were just barely visible through the clouds in the sky. Stiles swallowed, waiting for Derek to say whatever it was that he wanted.

“Paige and I used to come here sometimes.” Derek said.

And that was the last thing that Stiles expected.

“Oh.”

“I haven’t been back here since she died.” Derek admitted, “She used to love coming here after school, running around driving me crazy while I tried to do my homework at that table over there.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I knew about her.” Stiles said, because it felt like something he should apologize for.

Derek didn’t say anything as he picked Stiles up from the swing. He walked them across the playground and sat Stiles on the edge of the wooden table before sitting down right next to him, their sides pressed close together.

“How did you find out?” Derek asked, “I’m not mad, I promise, I’m just curious.”

Stiles chewed on the bottom of his lip, “I was in the library a few weeks ago and I sort of pulled the yearbooks from when you were in school.”

Derek huffed out a laugh, a small smile playing on his lips, “You got to see me as a scrawny kid, huh?”

Stiles knocked their shoulders together, “Basketball star Derek Hale was anything but scrawny.”

“Sure.” Derek hummed.

“I saw the dedication to her in one of the yearbooks,” Stiles took a deep breath, “so I googled and then I sort of put everything together after that.”

“It wasn’t my fault.” Derek said, and Stiles could see his claws digging into the wood of the table.

Stiles slowly reached out and covered Derek’s hand with his own, “I never thought it was.”

“She…”

Derek stood up from the table and started pacing, running a hand through his hair and kicking at the dirt underneath his feet.

“Derek, you don’t have to tell me anything.” Stiles said softly.

“Peter talked about her,” Derek said, the words coming out in a rush, “he talked about her with my mother when they were at a meeting with another Alpha, one who hated our family. He should have known better, he should have fucking thought about what he was saying.”

Stiles got up from the table, ignoring the pain in his feet as he made his way to Derek.

“We were walking through the woods and he found us. I tried to protect her, but he was an Alpha and I wasn’t strong enough. He bit her, he wanted her to be a part of his pack as something to use against us, but she rejected the bite. Someone eventually showed up and chased him away, but it was too late, I was hiding with Paige in a root cellar and she was in so much pain. She begged me to make it stop. And I did.”

Stiles’ breath hitched, “Jesus. I’m so sorry.”

When Derek looked at Stiles again, his eyes were glowing an electric blue, “It’s how I ended up with these. It’s a way for others to see what I’ve done. If a wolf has blue eyes it means he’s killed an innocent person.”

“You didn’t kill her, Derek.”

Derek shook his head, “I just wanted you to know, and now you do. You know everything about me. About Paige. About Kate.”

“And none of it makes me feel any differently about you.” Stiles grabbed Derek’s hand and pulled it to his chest, “You’ve been through so much, but you still care. You could easily become this brooding ball of darkness, hatred, but you’re not. You still care about people, about your family.”

“About you.” Derek whispered.

Stiles’ breath hitched.

“I could have lost you.” Derek said, “I can’t lose anyone else like that again.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Stiles felt his body go weightless, and it took him a moment to realize that Derek had lifted him off the ground. Stiles’ legs instinctively wrapped around Derek, and Derek moved them both backwards, so Stiles was sitting on the edge of the table again. They were close enough that Stiles could feel the ghost of Derek’s breath across his lips, and Stiles and Derek both looked from each other’s lips to their eyes at almost the exact same time.

It seemed like the culmination of everything that had happened over the last few months. Things were finally quiet, calm. Kate was dead, there was no danger, and Stiles and Derek finally saw each other for what they were. Derek had bared himself completely to Stiles, and Stiles in turn hadn’t flinched away from him for even a moment. It finally felt like the perfect moment, like there was nothing else between them that needed to be said before they connected so completely.

Stiles leaned forward, bridging the few inches of space between them, and then they were kissing.

It was different from any of the grand total of two kisses Stiles had ever had in his life, because for one thing Kelly Anderson in third grade did not have nearly the amount of facial hair that Derek did. But in the same way, it was just as tentative and explorative as that first kiss had been. They were both hesitant, worried about crossing an invisible line, but Stiles knew what he wanted.

His hands found Derek’s sides and twisted into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer. Derek let out a surprised huff, but he easily complied and pushed more of his weight towards Stiles. His hands left their place on either side of him, lifting from the table and running up the curve of Stiles’ spin. Stiles felt his entire body tremble at Derek’s touch, and from the smile that Stiles could feel on Derek’s lips, it was obvious that Derek felt it too.

Stiles parted his lips, the slightest invitation. Derek took it, his tongue sweeping into Stiles’ mouth almost instantly. It was different than anything Stiles had ever felt in his life, and he loved it. His tongue found its way into Derek’s mouth, and they stayed pressed together, exploring each other, for what felt like an eternity.

They broke apart eventually, both panting with red lips. Stiles could feel the beginning of some serious stubble burn on his face, and he couldn’t even be embarrassed when he thought about how it would look in the morning.  

 “That was…” Stiles trailed off.

Derek laughed, “Yeah.”

“We can do that again, right?” Stiles asked, just to make sure. “Like…whenever we want now?”

Derek rolled his eyes, but the smile stayed in its place, “Yes.”

“Cool.” Stiles said, following it up with what was probably the loudest yawn in the history of yawns.

“Tired now?” Derek asked.

“A little.” Stiles said, feeling like he’d just been his with a horse tranquilizer, like the kiss with Derek siphoned out all the pent of energy and adrenaline in his system, “Wanna keep kissing you though.”

Derek let out a huff but leaned forward to kiss Stiles again. It only lasted for a moment before Derek broke them apart and turned his back to Stiles, ducking down slightly so Stiles could get onto it again.

“You need to sleep.”

“Who needs sleep when you have a hot werewolf to kiss?”

They ran through the woods again, and by the time Derek made it back to Stiles’ house it was a struggle for Stiles to even keep his eyes open. He was half asleep even as Derek made the jump onto the roof and was just barely holding onto the land of consciousness when Derek sat him down on the edge of the bed.

“Stay?” Stiles asked as he crawled under the covers.

“You want me to?” Derek asked.

“Always want you to.” Stiles mumbled sleepily.

“OK.” Derek said, climbing over Stiles and settling himself into the bed next to him, jeans and all.

Stiles let out a contented, happy sound as Derek’s hands trailed their way up and down Stiles’ back, goosebumps rippling across his skin. He felt asleep with his head on Derek’s chest, and the sound of Derek’s heart beating in his ears.

 

X

 

A lot had happened in the week following Kate’s death.

Kate’s body was discovered the day after her death by a group of hikers in the preserve. Stiles’ dad was called out to the scene, and he was the one who processed all the evidence. Kate’s ‘suicide note’ gave them enough probably cause for a warrant, and her room at the Argent home was searched. The search revealed a collection of files and photographs detailing all the crimes Kate had committed in Beacon Hills, starting with the Hale fire and ending with the murder of the librarian a few weeks earlier.

Everything lined up so perfectly it made the whole thing an open and shut case. No one seemed to want to dig any further into things when such clear evidence was available, and none of the Argent’s tried to stop anything.

The local paper ran a story about the case a few days later, and they dubbed Kate the Butcher of Beacon Hills. Every time Stiles walked past a newsstand and saw the headline it made his stomach churn, he just knew Kate would have gotten some sick satisfaction out of a title like that.

Stiles’ minimal injuries were healing nicely, it no longer hurt him to walk on his feet and his neck had mostly recovered from the stun gun attack. He still got headaches every so often, worst of all when he tried to think about anything that happened that night, but it was nothing that a couple Advil couldn’t fix.

The pack had grown closer now that there wasn’t a threat hanging over their heads. Stiles often accompanied Derek and Laura out on their training exercises and watched with a terrible sense of joy as Lydia bested Scott in hand-to-hand combat. It shouldn’t have surprised Stiles but seeing Lydia judo flip Scott over her shoulder was something he never would have imagined.

Lydia attributed it to the self defense classes she took freshman year after a senior tried to grab her ass in the parking lot.

Erica even started going out into the woods with them, watching and taking notes on the kinds of things she would need to lean after Laura bit her. They’d had another discussion, but Stiles didn’t pry because it seemed to be something more personal between the two of them and Stiles didn’t want to stick his nose into something else it didn’t belong in.

Besides, Stiles was too busy sticking his tongue in Derek’s mouth.

It seemed that after that night in the park, it was free game for kissing season. Stiles was sure he and Derek spent every spare moment alone that had with each other with their lips pressed together.

His dad had yet to say anything so far, but Stiles couldn’t ignore the pointed glares and all-knowing side eyes forever.

Laura just looked at them with a fond smile and a sigh every time they walked into a room a few seconds after each other.

Scott caught them once, and the high-pitched sound of distress he made was almost worth the embarrassment of being caught sitting on Derek’s lap while making out with him.

No one had heard from Allison personally, not even Scott, they’d only seen her walking around town. No one could really blame her, not after what happened with Kate that night. The entire Argent family seemed to be keeping a low profile all together.

“I still can’t believe you got kidnapped and no one told me about it until after it happened.”

Stiles just looked at Erica and shook his head with a sigh, “I’m sorry, I’ll make sure you’re included next time.”

“Thank you.” Erica smiled, “That’s all I asked.”

Erica dropped her wrapped gift on the table, perfectly lining it up next to several others that were spread out along a new table that Laura just had delivered to the apartment. She assured Stiles she didn’t buy a table just to hold his presents, but Stiles didn’t see any need for it otherwise.

Music thrummed softly through the apartment as people filtered their way in and out of the kitchen. Derek had declared the lower floor completely off limits to anyone but him, with a small smile in Stiles’ direction, but Laura had gone all out in decorating the top floor for Stiles’ party.

There were streamers, balloons on top of balloons, and about thirty differently colored 17’s plastered on the walls. The kitchen was filled with food, drinks, and two cakes because Laura admitted she couldn’t remember which flavor Stiles said he liked best. Stiles was blown away by the level of care she’d put into the party, it was the most that anyone had ever done for him since his mom died.

Birthdays with his dad were usually more subdued, they’d maybe rent out the pizza place or do something small at home, but he hadn’t had something as involved as this birthday since the year before his mom got sick.

Stiles wasn’t going to cry, at least not until there was no one around to see him do it.

Scott held up a bottle of Jack Daniels, “Can I drink this?”

“Sure,” Laura shrugged, “I don’t think it counts as underage drinking when you can’t get drunk.”

“What?” Scott’s eyes went wide, “What do you mean?”

“Oh, did I forget to tell you that?” Laura said, surprised, “The way our metabolism works, our bodies basically burn out all the alcohol before it has a chance to affect us.”

Scott looked at the bottle in his hands, a frown plastered on his face, “Then why do you even have this?”

Laura shrugged, “I like the taste.”

Lydia came around the corner, plucking the bottle from Scott’s hands and pouring a bit into her cup, “Let’s find out if it works on me.”

“Easy.” Laura pointed a finger at her, “I’m not taking the fall for any of this if the Sheriff shows up and raids the place.”

Lydia raised her glass in a cheer, “To finding out if a banshee can still get wasted.”

Derek came up behind Stiles, trailing his finger along Stiles’ spine, “Do you want a drink?”

Stiles shivered at the contact, but shook his head, “I had some earlier but I’m good for now, I want to at least see what happens to Lydia.”

“Your dad’s working tonight, right?” Derek asked.

Stiles nodded, the back of his head knocking against Derek’s chest, “He tried to get off, but things have been so crazy lately. I thought they’d slow down after Kate’s…discovery but the world keeps turning.”

“Do you want to stay here tonight?”

Stiles hadn’t slept over at the apartment yet. Derek had spent a few nights sleeping in his bed, but he was always gone before the sun came up. Stiles had been looking forward to waking up in the same bed as Derek. They’d talked about taking things slowly, like, seriously slow, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to miss out on waking up and seeing a sleep rumpled Derek first thing in the morning.

“The couch does look pretty comfortable.” Stiles cocked his head to the side, “Laura has great taste in furniture.”

“Thank you!” Laura yelled from down the hallway.

“Stop being a fucking creep, Laura.” Derek growled.

“To answer your question, yes. I already asked dad and he was fine with it.”

“Good.” Derek said, “I hoped he would be after we talked the other day.”

Stiles spun on his heel, “You did _what_?”

Derek’s eyes went wide, “I thought he would have told you.”

“Uh, no.” Stiles flailed his arms, “What exactly did he say? When did he say this? Where did he say this? I have so many questions?”

“I ran into him at the grocery store and he cornered me by the butcher’s counter.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “He’s so predictable.”

Derek sighed, “He told me to stop climbing in your window and to use the front door when I want to see you.”

Stiles’ jaw dropped, “You said he was asleep every time!”

Derek held his hands up in surrender, “I don’t know how he does it either. It’s terrifying.”

“Right.” Stiles said, “Well. OK. I guess that explains why he hasn’t said anything to me, he was waiting to get to you.”

Derek shook his head and laughed, “That’s because he knows I’m sensible.”

“Right.” Stiles shook his head, drawing out the word.

Derek rolled his eyes, “Go eat your cake.”

Stiles took a step backwards, “I will eat my cake, and I’ll love every second of it.”

Derek just sighed and walked down the hallway.

“Scotty! My boy!” Stiles cheered as he fell over the back of the couch, his head landing in Scott’s lap.

Scott looked at him suspiciously, “Are you drunk?”

Stiles laughed, “I’m drunk on life, Scotty.”

Scott’s single eyebrow told Stiles that Scott didn’t quite believe him.

“There were also the two shots that Lydia and I did before Derek showed up and ruined the fun.”

“I can hear you!” Derek yelled.

“Now who’s being the fucking creep?” Stiles yelled back.

Scott laughed, “I’m glad you’re having a good time.”

“We all deserve to have a good time after the last few months.” Stiles said, sitting up.

“I talked to Allison today.” Scott said.

“Really?” Stiles asked, “How’s she doing?”

“She said her dad stopped asking questions about Kate, but she doesn’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

Allison hadn’t told her dad what happened the night. Apparently she and Laura talked about it when they were burying the bodies and they both agreed it would be better to let it play out, to see if her dad would buy the fake story before Allison was forced to tell the truth. It seemed to Stiles like Laura was trying to keep Allison open as a viable source of information and didn’t want to risk losing her to her parents if they closed ranks because of what she did.

“Speaking of people who we’ve kissed,” Lydia perched herself on the arm of the couch, “Did you hear about Jackson?”

“What do you mean?” Scott asked, “What happened?”

“He’s moving away.” Lydia took another sip from her cup, “His dad is embarrassed about how he acted with the sheriff, and apparently someone made an official complaint about him trying to use his position to pressure charges on Derek, so once Jackson is released from the hospital they’re moving to his mothers’ house in London.”

“There’s going to be an entire ocean between me and Jackson?” Stiles’ eyes lit up, “This is the best birthday ever.”

Lydia flicked him on the nose, “Don’t be rude.”

“Sorry.” Stiles laughed as he stood up from the couch.

Lydia got up at the same time as he did, and they collided. Lydia’s cup tumbled out of her hand and spilled down the front of Stiles’ white shirt, soaking it completely.

Erica laughed, “Good job, Stilinski.”

“Wonderful.” Stiles groaned.

Lydia sighed, “Laura, where’s the mop?”

Laura shot down the hallway, “What did you do?”

Stiles pointed at Lydia as he made a break for the stairs, “Blame her!”

Stiles left everyone upstairs as he went down the staircase to Derek’s floor of the apartment. He’d already stored an overnight bag in Derek’s room, so he was glad he’d be able to change out of his soaked shirt.

Derek’s bedroom had a few more pieces of furniture now, there was another dresser and a new TV that Stiles was positive Laura bought, and it looked more lived in than the last time Stiles was in it. A new bookshelf sat against the wall next to an unopened box labeled ‘books’ and there was a desk that was delivered from Ikea earlier in the day just waiting to be put together.

Stiles grabbed a towel from the back of Derek’s single chair and dried his chest off after pulling the shirt over his head. He tossed the shirt and the towel into the laundry basket and picked up his back from the foot of Derek’s bed, unzipping it and rummaging through it to find one of the extra shirts he’d packed.

Stiles let out a yelp after changing into the new shirt and turning to find Laura standing in the doorway, “Can I not have any privacy?”

Laura tipped her head back and laughed, “Relax. I didn’t see anything; your modesty is still intact.”

“Oh,” Stiles shrugged, “in that case you’re free to be as silent and sneaky as you want.”

Laura rapped her knuckles against the door frame, “As it should be.”

“How’s the situation upstairs?” Stiles asked.

“Derek is currently angrily mopping the floor while Lydia and Scott laugh and throw things at him.”

Stiles grinned, “Seriously, best birthday ever.”

“I’m glad you’re having a good time.” Laura said as they walked down the hallway.

They came to a stop in the living room, which was still bare. Stiles still thought their official first date should be a trip to Ikea because he could only look at a single couch and television so many times before it started to get depressing.

Laura walked over to one of the large windows that bordered the wall. The blinds were opened, and the view was amazing. The sun had just started to go down, and it was washing everything with a warm golden light. The light twinkled off the industrial windows of the buildings below, and the wind was blowing softly through the trees. It gave off a storybook vibe, if there was a storybook that was set in an industrial warehouse district.

“I’m glad we came here.” Laura said, the sun illuminating the side of her face and streaks of her hair, “It hasn’t been easy, but I don’t know where we’d be if we were still in New York.”

Stiles walked over to the window, stopping next to Laura and bumping their shoulders together, “I’m glad you came too.”

Laura looked at him and smiled, “I’m glad I got arrested too, which is not something I ever thought I would say. Getting arrested, meeting you, it was like this was how it was supposed to go all along.”

“I used to not believe in fate,” Stiles admitted, “but that was before I believed in werewolves so who’s to say it wasn’t fate.”

Laura reached around Stiles and draped her arm over his shoulder, pulling him in close to her, “You’re good for Derek, and he’s good for you too.”

Stiles felt himself heating up. It was the first time Laura had openly acknowledged him and Derek and Stiles didn’t know what to say.

“Just so you know though, if you hurt him I’ll kill you.” Laura grinned, “And I told him the same thing about you. Basically, neither of you do something shitty to the other one because I’ll rip yours arms off either of your bodies and beat you to death with them.”

Stiles laughed, “Noted.”

Laura tipped her head up to the ceiling, “Oh god, Derek just threated to shove the mop down Scott’s throat and Lydia is actively encouraging him.”

Stiles laughed and ducked out of her embrace, “Go save the children.”

Laura nodded, her eyes turning red as she made her way to the stairs. Stiles listened for the growl, and then the thump of something being dropped before he shook his head with a fond smile and headed to the bathroom.

Derek’s bathroom was the cleanest bathroom Stiles had ever seen in his life. He was amazed every single time he walked into it. The only sign of disorder was the tipped over bottle of shampoo on the shelf in the shower.

Stiles looked in the mirror and ran a hand through his hair. He’d started to let it grow out more than usual after he realized Derek liked to pull on it a little bit when they were kissing. He couldn’t say he hated the new look, but it was taking some getting used to after seeing his buzzed haircut in the mirror every day for the last nine odd years.

Just as Stiles was about to leave the bathroom, the lights flickered. He paused, his hand on the doorknob, and turned back to the mirror. As soon as Stiles saw his reflection his head started to throb in pain. It was worse than the stun gun, worse than any head injury he’d gotten at lacrosse practice. It was like someone was cutting into either side of his head with a power saw. He opened his mouth to scream, to do something, but nothing came out.

He tried to scream again, and again, and again, but there was only silence. Silence and unbearable pain.

His legs gave out and he toppled to the ground. He started to cough, gagging as he writhed on the floor. It felt like there was something inside of him, something deep in his body that was trying to claw its way out. He felt it in his throat, moving around like a snake beneath his skin.

He couldn’t scream, he couldn’t move, and that was when he remembered.

Jennifer.

It all rushed back to him as the blocks she put on his memory dissolved away. Jennifer was at the house that night, she’d come to see him, to tell him how Kate messed with her plans. She did something to him. Stiles could see it perfectly, the black magic snaking around her fingers and behind his head, he could remember the feeling of it burning him from the inside out as it went down his throat and settled deep inside his body.

_“I’ll be seeing you, Stiles.”_

Stiles’ body stood from the ground, but he was no longer in control of it. He was watching from a third person view, almost as if he’d been forced out of it entirely and was being trailed along by a leash. He watched as his body pushed itself up, opened the door, and walked slowly down the hallway.

His body moved like something out of a horror movie, it moved with slow precision, like it had a single goal in mind. It stopped at the base of the stairs, and Stiles tried to scream, tried to pull it back and get it under control, but there was no stopping his body. It took the stairs one at a time, stopping at each step like it had forgotten how to traverse them each time.

Slowly, so slowly, his body made it upstairs and everyone looked up in time to see it standing there. He didn’t know what his face looked like, but everyone could obviously tell that there was something wrong.

Erica’s eyes were wide, “Oh my god, Stiles.”

Derek was the first to move, he jumped from his position on the couch and started to run towards Stiles’ body, but the body opened its mouth and let out an ear shattering scream. All the wolves fell to their knees and covered their ears, Lydia stumbled backwards, and Erica’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as she passed out on the couch.

The screaming stopped, and the wolves recovered. Laura was the first up, followed by Scott, and then Derek. Lydia’s eyes were glowing green and she used the couch as a barricade between herself and the body.

“Stiles.” Laura yelled, “Stiles, are you in there?”

The body opened its mouth again, but it didn’t scream this time. Stiles watched from afar as the same smoky black tendrils of magic that Jennifer had put into him crawled their way out of his mouth. They moved like tentacles, like some terrible Lovecraftian horror was emerging from Stiles’ body.

The black magic moved across the floor quickly, separating into four different strands and wrapping itself around everyone’s throats. The wolves all swiped at the magic with claws, dissolving it for only a second before it reformed, more solid each time, and began to choke them.

Scott was lifted off the ground, and the magic slammed his body into Lydia’s before dropping them both on the floor. Derek fought harder against it, but it kept squeezing until Derek’s face went blue and he was thrown on top of Scott and Lydia.

Laura’s eyes turned a deep red, and Stiles could see that she was trying to shift into a wolf. The magic wouldn’t let her go though, it kept pumping out of Stiles mouth, growing more and more solid as a new tendril was added every second. Soon, it was one thick arm that was holding Laura in place, wrapping itself around her entire body. She kept fighting, but Stiles heard the sickening sound of her ribs cracking and then her body went limp.

Stiles didn’t know if he could cry in whatever form he was in, but he felt like he was. He was screaming, begging, pleading for this to all stop, but there was still no sound coming from his mouth. His body turned away from the pile of bodies at its feet and walked to the front door of the apartment, leaving it open as it made its way downstairs.

Soon, Stiles’ body was on the sidewalk. The golden sun had almost completely given way to the silver moon as Stiles’ body crossed the street and stepped into the woods. It walked with single minded efficiency, never pausing or stopping for any reason. Stiles himself was just along for the ride, helplessly drifting along and watching everything fly by while being powerless to stop it.

His feet stopped moving when he reached the edge of a clearing. It felt like he’d been walking forever, but Stiles had lost all sense of time since being forced out of his body, so he had no way to know for sure. His body took one final step out of the trees, and he found himself standing across from Jennifer.

She was dressed in a long black robe, her dark hair whipping in the wind that seemed to be localized around her body. There were candles scattered about the clearing, flickering with a terrible orange glow in the darkness. Jennifer was standing in front of a large gnarled stump that came up past her knee, the last remaining body of what looked to have been an impossibly large tree. She held up a single hand and beckoned his body forward, and it moved without question. It kept walking until they were face to face, and Jennifer drew a single finger across his cheek, stopping when it pressed against his lips.

Stiles’ mouth opened, and Jennifer drew her hand back, the terrible black magic worming its way out of Stiles’ body and following her hand. It flowed out of his mouth, it kept going for so long that Stiles wondered if it would ever stop. It circled around her arm, down her back, and around her waist until it was crawling over her body like a snake. The second the last bit of magic left his body, Stiles gasped for air and suddenly found himself thrown back into his body.

Stiles stumbled forward, dropping to his knees and digging his hands into the dirt. He pushed himself up and threw himself at Jennifer, desperate to try and hurt her any way he could, but she stopped him with a flick of the wrist.

“Why?” Stiles rasped.

“I told you I had plans for you.” Jennifer smiled, “I’m sorry you couldn’t remember our conversation, but I couldn’t take any risks. I’ve been planning this for a very long time, and you already messed with my plans once by taking my wolf.”

“What did Peter have to do with any of this?” Stiles coughed.

“I needed someone who was born on the anniversary of the founding of the town. A werewolf would have been perfect, it would have been more power than I’d known what to do with. Unfortunately, I didn’t prepare for a banshee’s scream to break my spell, but I’ve since guarded against that.”

Stiles shared a birthday with Peter?

Something didn’t seem right, it wasn’t anywhere near the anniversary of Beacon Hills’ founding, “Founders day is in November, you’re _months_ early.”

Jennifer shook her head, a smile dancing across her lips, “Not Beacon Hills, Stiles. The founding of what came first, the town that lived and died before Beacon Hills was even a thought in anyone’s head.”

“You’re fucking crazy!”

None of what she was saying made sense. There was nothing that came before Beacon Hills. If anyone knew about some secret town history it would be Stiles, there was nothing that escaped his late-night research binges. Stiles could tell you the exact date, time, and place Beacon Hills was founded and there was zero evidence that anything existed there before it.

“It doesn’t need to make sense to you, Stiles. That’s not what you’re here for.” Jennifer held out her hand, lifting Stiles through the air and then dropping him onto the center of the stump, “You’re here to help me awaken the Nemeton.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, they kissed! and stiles got kidnapped for the second time in three chapters lol oops 
> 
> this is it tho, i'm so excited for the next chapter because it's the culmination of almost everything i've laid out over these 200k words and it's going to be a wild fucking ride i hope you're ready because i sure as fuck am!!


	33. Prelude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i lied we have 35 chapters total now.
> 
> as i was writing this i realized that it was like...a lot and that a 8k chapter with a lot of info would be easier to digest than a 15k chapter with a fuck ton of stuff happening and all this info. next chapter is v action oriented and should be up within a couple days, i didn't like how long it was getting and it felt like it had a natural chapter break so i wanted to give everyone time to process the first part on its own.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 33

Prelude

 

Stiles saw stars as his head collided with the back of the tree stump. Not cartoon stars, but the actual stars overhead in the sky. They were lined up in a pattern, but it wasn’t any constellation that Stiles had ever seen or read about. The tree beneath him felt alive, it was thrumming with power almost like an electrical current was flowing through it. Stiles tried to get up, tried to roll himself off and onto the ground, but he was held in place by an invisible force.

His throat started to constrict, and he could feel tracks of tears as they flowed down his face. He was scared, no, he was fucking terrified. He wasn’t really scared when Kate had him, or rather, he was scared only because Kate was unpredictable, but this was different. Jennifer wasn’t unpredictable, she was worse. Stiles knew exactly what she wanted to do and unlike Kate, there was no way to distract her from her single-minded task.

“Have you heard of the Nemeton, Stiles?” Jennifer asked.

Stiles didn’t answer even though he recalled reading the name in one of Deaton’s books.

Jennifer continued on, heedless of Stiles’ silence, “A Nemeton is a sacred place of power for druids. They’re naturally formed trees that are blessed by druids who spend their entire lives training for the ritual. It’s not commonly known, but a druid actually has to sacrifice their life to complete the ritual and fully form a Nemeton. They’re greatly protected, or they usually are as a Nemeton acts as a barrier, keeping out malevolent energy as long as the tree thrives. However, if a Nemeton is cut down then it’s said that the spirit of the druid that resides inside it becomes angry at the world for abandoning it, the spirits anger acts as a magnet to pull in more darkness until the world around it is consumed.”

Stiles didn’t need to be a genius to know he was currently laying on a Nemeton that had been cut down.

“What do I have to do with any of this?” Stiles asked through gritted teeth.

Jennifer looked at him and frowned, “You’re not special, Stiles. It’s simply a matter of coincidence that you share a birthday with the founding of Eichen Township.”

“Eichen Township?” Stiles repeated, “What the hell are you talking about?”

Jennifer sighed and lowered herself into a crouch in front of Stiles’ face, she had the look of a kindergarten teacher who was trying to speak to a petulant child, “I told you before, Beacon Hills has not always been Beacon Hills. Eichen Township came first, a small settlement founded by Roland Eichen in 1855.”

‘Beacon Hills was founded in 1857.” Stiles shook his head, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Jennifer shrugged, “I never said Eichen lasted long. In fact, Eichen has a very short and very dark history.  The Nemeton existed long before Eichen, and when Roland Eichen stumbled upon this fertile plot of land he knew he had to claim it for himself.  Eichen made a mistake though, he cut down the Nemeton, impressed by the quality of its wood, and used it to build his home which became the center of the township. Rumors of the town swirled and soon people flocked from all over the state, eager to get away from the problems that the larger cites brought with them.”

“Why are you even telling me all this?”

“I figured you’d like to know the history of the land while we wait for everything to get into position.”

Jennifer turned away from him, the end of her robe twisting in the wind. That gave Stiles hope, if Jennifer was waiting for something to happen, for the fucking moon or stars to align correctly, that meant that Stiles still had a chance to get out of this.

“Roland Eichen was rumored to…dabble in dark magic.” Jennifer continued, “He spent days alone in his home, locked in his workshop as he experimented with the dark arts. No one knows for sure what happened, only that Eichen was able to establish a direct link with something very old, very dark, and very powerful. The wood cut from the Nemeton acted like a signal booster, amplifying the power of the magic he toyed with. Some say he forged a link with hell, but others insist that he opened up a direct line to the edges of our universe and made contact with a terrifying cosmic being. Whichever story you prescribe to, demons or aliens, they both end the same way.”

Stiles looked around for something, anything he could use, but he still couldn’t move his body beyond the rotation of his neck, “And how’s that?”

Jennifer’s magic began to swirl around her body again, “Roland Eichen was taken over, possessed or controlled, and he unleased hell upon earth. Absent of the protection of the Nemeton, terrifying creatures rampaged through the township, finding and killing every living soul until there was nothing left but darkness and isolation. Eichen was driven mad when his body was returned to him, and he fled into the woods as he was pursued by darkness. He fell to his knees at the bottom of what used to be the Nemeton, its power had drawn him back to the place where all his mistakes began. He died soon after.”

“I don’t believe you,” Stiles said, “none of this can be true. How could all of that have happened and then had Beacon Hills dropped on top of it like nothing?”

“A collection of magic users who sought to keep the balance in the world was already on its way to Eichen before the darkness devoured it, but they arrived too late and found a town stained red with blood. They were powerful though, and they managed to clear the town and return the dark force that Roland Eichen brought from where it came. A druid among them sealed the Nemeton, put it to sleeo, but the damage was already done.”

“Beacon Hills was founded by the druid who left his group and remained behind to monitor the town, and Roland Eichen even found a place in the new town, his name serving as a reminder and a warning against messing with things you cannot control.”

“Eichen House.” Stiles whispered.

Jennifer’s mouth stretched into a feral smile, “A bit on the nose, no? A mental institution built in the same spot as Roland Eichen’s former home?”

“So the thing you took from this story is that you want to _wake up_ the evil tree that helped killed a town full of people?” Stiles shook his head in disgust, “Why do the bad guys never do anything that makes sense?”

Jennifer sighed, “I shouldn’t expect you to understand. Eichen wasn’t worthy of the power of the Nemeton, he was a fool who stumbled into its glory on accident.”

“And you’re going to be different?” Stiles scoffed, “Let me guess, you’re going to use the power of the Nemeton to end global warming, world hunger, homelessness? Nothing like a little ritual sacrifice to save the world!”

“What I do, or do not do, with the power of the Nemeton is none of your concern.” Jennifer said, her tone growing pointed, “You’re not going to be around to see it.”

Stiles swallowed the lump in his throat. He looked up at the sky and his stomach sank, the stars still looked like they were moving, going from a jagged design in the sky to a perfectly straight line that led up to the nearly full moon.

Jesus. Stiles had forgotten that the full moon was in two days, which didn’t matter if he wasn’t going to make it out of this fucked up place alive.

“It’s time.” Jennifer smiled.

Stiles felt the pressure of her magic let up for the briefest of seconds, and he took the opportunity the second he got it. He pushed himself up from the Nemeton and scrambled to the side of the stump, tucking his body as he rolled off the side. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt the grass on his palms, but his relief was quickly replaced by terror as he was sucked through the air and thrown back onto the Nemeton’s base.

The back of his skull crashed into the wooden surface, and Stiles felt a bolt of pain surge through his body. Jennifer stood above him, a bored expression on her face as she held her hand out, palm flat and facing Stiles. Jennifer didn’t speak, she just continued to stare at Stiles as both of his arms were brought out to the side so he was stretched out across the Nemeton like he was on a cross.

Stiles had a sickening feeling he knew what was coming next, all but confirmed when Jennifer pulled a gleaming silver dagger out of the sleeve of her robe.

“Please,” Stiles begged, “there has to be another way.”

Jennifer walked around to Stiles left side, disappearing out of view after a moment. Maybe it was good that Stiles couldn’t see, or maybe it would have been better if he was able to prepare himself for what came next.

He screamed out in pain as he felt Jennifer’s dagger pierce his wrist, the silver blade ripping through his flesh and pinning his hand to the tree. His arm throbbed, it was the worst pain Stiles had ever been in in his life. It burned, and he could only take shallow breaths as it felt like something was being pulled out of him.

Jennifer was on his right side now, and she wasted no time repeating the same process on his right wrist. Stiles screamed again, the pain now coming from both sides of his body was unimaginable. His vision was getting blurry, the only sound he could hear was rushing blood and the frantic hammering of his own heart in his ears. Jennifer sounded like the was mumbling something, a fucking chant maybe, but Stiles could only focus on the sound of his beating heart and the pain that was burning through his body.

He managed to turn his head to see his right hand, and he immediately wished he hadn’t. His hand was covered in blood, the once silver knife had turned blood red from the blade to the hilt. There was already a pool of blood forming around his hand, and Stiles wasn’t a doctor, but he was almost positive that there was too much blood for such a short amount of time.

The Nemeton was pooling with his blood, rivers of it flowing out from the wounds and surrounding his body.

“Derek.” Stiles whispered before everything went black.

 

X

 

Derek came to after a slap across his face. He woke with a start, half shifted with teeth bared. Erica was on top of him, she looked mildly scared but more relived than anything.

“Oh thank god,” Erica breathed, “I’ve been slapping all of you trying to wake someone up.”

“What happ-” Derek didn’t need to finish, “Stiles! Where’s Stiles?”

Erica shook her head, “He’s gone. I don’t know where he went, the door was wide open when I woke up. What the hell was that?”

“Are you OK?” Derek asked.

Erica nodded, “He didn’t hurt me…I just passed out.”

Derek squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to fight off the memory of Stiles’ face. No, that wasn’t Stiles. Whatever that was, it had Stiles’ body, but it wasn’t Stiles. The soulless black eyes, the blank stare, the dark magic that Derek could feel crawling under his skin. None of that was Stiles.

Derek pushed himself up from the floor, “Go wake up Lydia.”

Erica looked back at him, “What about Laura and Scott?”

“Erica, just focus on Lydia.” Derek took a deep breath, he didn’t want to lose his mind, but he also needed Erica to listen to him, “Please. I can deal with Laura and Scott.”

Erica knelt down next to Lydia and started trying to wake her up. Everyone was still breathing, which was a plus, so Derek knew what he had to do. He walked over to Laura first and tried not to think about how she looked like she was dead. He stopped in front of her, crouched, and let his body shift as far as the Beta shift would take him. Everything looked sharper, sounded clearer, and he inhaled deeply before he let out a roar that shook the pictures on the walls.

Laura’s eyes snapped open in an instant, glowing a dark red as she sprung up from the floor half shifted. Scott’s eyes blinked open too, not quite as alert as Laura, but awake and golden. Laura winced at the sudden movement as she shifted back to normal and she leaned over slightly, pressing at her ribs.

“Jesus, he broke three ribs.” Laura said, shocked.

“That wasn’t him.” Derek said sharply.

Laura took a deep breath, “I _know_. I literally just talked to him a few minutes before that and he was fine.”

“If that wasn’t Stiles, then who was it?” Scott asked, rubbing the back of his head.

“I don’t know.” Laura looked lost, “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“It didn’t feel right.” Lydia said as Erica helped her up from the floor, “It made my skin burn like a warning.”

Derek went rigid.

“A…death warning?” Erica asked hesitantly.

“It felt different.” Lydia sounded unsure though, “It didn’t feel like death, it felt like…change.”

Laura ran her hands through her hair before scrubbing one down here face. She poked at her ribs again, and when she was apparently satisfied with how they’d healed, she took a deep breath.

“Whatever it was, it was magic.” Laura said, “Magic means we talk to Deaton. And we need to find Peter, I can’t imagine this is a coincidence and not connected to the witch and his situation.”

“What do you want us to do?” Lydia asked.

Laura looked around the room, “Lydia, you and Erica are coming with me to see Deaton. Deaton was the last person to see Peter, so even if he doesn’t know anything about what could have happened to Stiles he can at least help us find Peter. Derek, go out and see if you can pick anything up. A scent, a trail, anything. Scott, go to Allison and tell her what happened, see if she or her family have heard anything about a witch being in town. It’s a long shot, but they’re our only other widow into the supernatural world aside from Deaton. “

“OK.” Scott nodded.

“Shit,” Laura hissed, “someone needs to call the Sheriff.”

“I’ll call him.” Derek said.

Laura nodded, “Let’s get moving.”

Derek headed straight for the door, Scott following closely behind him. He wasn’t going to panic, he wasn’t going to let himself make any dumb mistakes like he did when Kate had Stiles. He was going to find Stiles, he was going to find whoever did this to him, and he was going to rip their throat out.

 

X

 

The light was still on at Deaton’s clinic when Laura arrived. Erica and Lydia piled out of the Camaro and followed behind her as they made their way inside. Her skin was buzzing, Stiles being gone felt like she was missing a limb and she wanted to do nothing more than tear the town apart looking for him, but she needed to think logically about this. If the same witch who took Peter was the one who had Stiles, she wouldn’t make it easy for them to find him. She’d stumbled upon Peter by chance, and she doubted she’d have the same luck with Stiles.

Laura could tell there was something wrong the second they set foot inside the office. All the lights were on inside, but there was no sound at all. The front counter was disheveled, various items and knickknacks knocked over onto their sides, pens and papers scattered all over the floor, shards of glass strewn about the room.

The door to the back part of the office was open, and there was a crack running clean up the center of it.

“Well this is comforting.” Lydia whispered.

“Deaton?” Laura called out, “Deaton, it’s Laura. Are you here?”

A heartbeat stuttered.

“Someone’s downstairs.” Laura said, “You two stay behind me. If anything goes wrong, you two get out of here.”

“We’re not going to leave you.” Erica said, sounding entirely sure about it.

Laura’s eyes flashed red, “That’s an order.”

“I’m not a wolf yet.” Erica shrugged, “We’re not leaving you.”

Laura growled but left it alone for now. She shifted, her claws growing just so she was ready for anything.

The door to Deaton’s secret lower level was wide open, a crack running up the center of that door too. Laura felt the coppery taste of magic in the air, like someone had been fighting with it. She started to walk a little faster, pausing when she got to the top of the stairs. She immediately smelled blood, it wasn’t fresh, but the smell was unmistakable.

“Deaton!” Laura quickly made her way down the stairs and saw Deaton crumpled on the floor in the center of the room. His head was bleeding, but it didn’t look like a life-threatening injury. She tipped her head to the side to listen through the rest of the building and everything sounded clear.

Laura looked over her shoulder, “You two go upstairs and find something for his head. Come right back down here after.”

The girls nodded and turned on their heels to head back upstairs.

Laura rushed over to Deaton’s side. He was still breathing, which was good, and he didn’t appear to have any other injuries on him aside from a few freshly formed bruises. There were a few spots of blood on the stairs, and a few more across the floor like he’d rolled over it. It looked to Laura like someone had pushed Deaton down the stairs.

“Deaton are you with me?” Laura leaned in close to him, “It’s Laura.”

Deaton groaned, “Laura?”

Laura nodded, “Yeah, it’s me. Can you sit up?”

Deaton groggily raised a hand to his head and winced when he touched the gash on his head, “Is she gone?”

“Who?” Laura asked, “Do you know who did this?”

Lydia and Erica returned with a bottle of disinfectant, gauze, and surgical tape. Laura helped Deaton up and sat him on one of the stools around the long table as Lydia disinfected his wound and Erica bandaged it. Deaton didn’t speak during the process, his eyes going in and out of focus like he was trying to piece his thoughts together.

“All done.” Erica said, smoothing the last piece of surgical tape across Deaton’s forehead, “It’s not professional or anything, but I think it’ll do.”

Deaton blinked a few times, and then he smiled, “Thank you girls.”

“Anytime.” Lydia said.

“Do you remember what happened?” Laura asked, “Something happened to Stiles tonight and I think it might be connected to this.”

Deaton poked at the bandage on his head before talking, “I was locking up for the evening when a woman came in. I knew she was trouble from the second I saw her, I could feel the dark magic surrounding her. I asked her to leave, and when she refused I strongly suggested she turn around before I had to make her. She attacked me.”

“Just randomly?” Lydia asked.

Deaton shook his head, “She was after something. Ingredients for a spell, I think. She asked me where I kept my special items, and when I tried to ward the office against her she broke through them. I put up the best fight that I could, but I admit that I’m out of practice in magical duels. She threw me down the stairs and that’s the last I remember before you got here.”

“Jesus.” Laura clenched and unclenched her fists, “This isn’t good.”

“You said something happened to Mr. Stilinski?” Deaton asked.

“He attacked us,” Laura quickly corrected herself at the look on Deaton’s face, “Something using him attacked us. He was fine one minute and then the next his eyes were completely black and he opened his mouth and these…things came out of it.”

“Things?” Deaton raised an eyebrow.

“It was almost like smoke at first,” Laura explained, “and then they turned into these inky black…tendrils?”

Deaton’s eyes went wide, “I believe we may have a problem.”

“What?” Lydia asked quickly, “Deaton what is it?”

“What you describe sounds like a passenger?”

“A passenger?” Erica asked.

“A passenger is a personification of a witch’s black magic,” Deaton explained, “it can be transferred into a person without their knowledge, though it is very advanced and I’ve only ever seen it myself once. When the time comes, the passenger takes over the hosts body with a form of temporary possession but once the passenger is in full control it can only last a limited amount of time before it must return to the witch it originated from. The host is then freed of the possession for good, but they’re often drawn back to the witch along with the passenger.”

“Jesus.” Laura whispered, “It has to be the same woman who attacked you, and the same woman who had Peter.”

“I suspect so.” Deaton said, “Peter wasn’t able to tell me much about her, but he could recognize that she was very powerful. Possibly even approaching the level of Mariska.”

“Fuck.”

That wasn’t good. Laura had never seen anybody as powerful as Mariska when she fully unleashed her powers. Mariska was often terrifying with her displays of power, and she was always on their side. Laura didn’t want to think about going against someone who was nearly as powerful.

Lydia walked over to the work table on the other side of the room. The table was usually organized immaculately, everything categorized neatly and labeled without fail. But now, jars were toppled over and broken, plastic bags were flung to the sides with dried herbs spilling out, jars of fluid were spilled or leaking.

“Can you tell what she took?” Lydia asked, “If you can figure out what she was after we may be able to tell where she went.”

God, Laura didn’t even think of that. It seemed like every day Laura found another reason to be glad that Lydia found her way into the pack. Deaton walked across the room slowly and examined the work bench as he stopped in front of it. He made a few sounds, humming and tsk’ing as he thumbed through the destroyed contents of the table.

When Deaton looked back his mouth was a grim line, “She took several ingredients that are very rare and hard to come by. I fear we may be in worse shape than I thought.”

“Why?” Laura asked, bracing herself for the worst.

“The particular items she stole from me have one specific purpose when used in combination.”

“Which is?” Laura prompted.

Deaton pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, “Necromancy.”

“Oh, fuck me.”

 

X

 

Derek followed Stiles’ scent to the edge of the woods, and that’s where the trail ended. He slammed his fist into the closest tree, repeatedly, until it splintered and fell to the side. He looked down at his fist, raw and bloody knuckles already starting to heal.

This couldn’t be happening.

_This could not be happening._

He couldn’t lose Stiles after finally feeling what it felt like to hold him against a wall and kiss him breathless. He couldn’t lose Stiles after learning that Stiles loved to lazily trace the patterns of his tattoo while Derek laid on his stomach and read. Derek couldn’t lose Stiles after finally getting him.

“Stiles!” Derek yelled, roared, into the woods.

Derek’s phone rang, he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it without even looking at the caller ID.

“Tell me you’ve found him.” The Sheriff asked quickly.

Derek’s silence was his only answer.

“Jesus,” He could hear the Sheriff typing away on a keyboard in the background, “I put out an APB for him, and I’m close to making it a fucking Amber Alert.”

“I followed his trail to the edge of the woods but I lost it.” Derek looked at the tree on the ground, eyes zeroing in on his bloody fist prints in the wood.

“How?” The Sheriff asked, “Isn’t that your whole thing?”

Derek winced, “There’s magic involved.”

The Sheriff laughed bitterly, “Of course there’s fucking magic involved.”

Derek felt his chest clench, “Sheriff… _Noah_ , I’m so sorry. I should have known something was wrong, I should have protected him.”

The Sheriff was quiet for a minute, “Derek. Stop. Nothing good will come from blaming yourself. You need to be at your best right now if we want to find him. I’m sorry, it’s not your fault and I don’t blame you. We found him after Kate and we’ll find him again.”

Derek felt fucking terrible, the Sheriff’s son was missing and he was the one comforting Derek.

“I’m going into the woods.” Derek said as he shook off any feelings of helplessness he was overcome with, “I might be able to track him normally without smell.”

“Wait,” Derek could hear a chair rolling across a tiled floor, what sounded like a jacket being pulled on, “I’ll come with you, tell me where you are.”

Derek nodded to himself, “Meet me at our apartment, I can lead the way from there.”

“I’ll be there in five minutes.”

The Sheriff hung up. Derek pocketed his phone and immediately heard a twig snap behind him. Derek shifted, fangs bared, and whiled on the person behind him. He pulled his first back and was halfway to delivering a punch to someone’s’ face when he realized who it was.

“Peter?” Derek shifted back, cracking his neck.

“Hello to you too, Derek.” Peter smiled, looking a lot more like the Peter before the fire than the wild man in Deaton’s basement did.

“Why are you here?”

Peter’s smile turned into a frown, “Is that any way to wish your uncle a happy birthday?”

“Birthday?” Derek repeated, and then it suddenly dawned on him. Jesus, Stiles shared a birthday with Peter and everyone had forgotten about it.

“As I figured.” Peter shrugged, “In any case, I came by your apartment to say hello and I found it in shambles with the door wide open, and then I smelled your blood. It’s amazing that I still know what family smells like after all these years.”

Peter looked pointedly at the split tree on the ground, eyes drifting to Derek’s now healed hand that was still covered in drying blood.

Derek instinctively put him hand behind his back, “Stiles is gone.”

“Stiles?” Peter repeated, “The boy you seem to be so fond of?”

Derek’s eyes glowed a blue warning, “I’m not in the mood, Peter.”

“What happened? Lover’s quarrel?”

Derek fought back every urge to shift and pounce on Peter, he gritted his teeth, “No. Something…took him.”

Peter’s eyebrows rose, “What happened? I heard Kate was dead, I’m rather sad that I missed that one.”

“It had nothing to do with Kate,” Derek said, “We think it might have something to do with the witch that took you.”

That got Peter’s attention, “Tell me everything. Now.”

Derek explained everything as they walked back to the apartment, He told Peter about Stiles’ eyes, about the blank look on his face, and about the dark magic that literally poured out of him. Peter listened with rapt attention, his eyes giving away more than he was saying with intermittent hums and telling Derek to continue. Peter’s eyes had always given away a lot of things like unspoken happiness, sadness, or guilt.

Derek couldn’t tell what Peter’s eyes were saying now though.

The Sheriff’s cruiser pulled up to the front of the building just as Derek was finishing explaining what happened.

The engine cut as the Sheriff jumped out, a shotgun slung over his shoulder, Derek, and…”

The Sheriff trailed off, his eyes going wide as he recognized the once comatose and scarred Peter Hale.

Peter smiled, “Officer Stilinski, you’re looking as dapper as ever.”

The Sheriff blanched at the comment, “Peter?”

Peter frowned, “No, I’m sorry. Perhaps you haven’t heard, they found a dead body in the next county that matched the identity of the missing Peter Hale. I’m his twin brother, I’ve been over seas but just had to come back when I heard about the fate of my poor brother.”

“What the actual fuck?” Derek looked at Peter like he’d grown another head, he really didn’t have time for this.

“Derek, your uncle didn’t have a twin, correct?” The Sheriff asked, and Derek didn’t exactly blame him for not realizing Peter was a lying sack of shit.

“No.” Derek glared at Peter.

“Nonsense.” Peter reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a brand-new leather wallet, opened it, and daintily plucked a drivers license from it and handed it to the Sheriff.

“Paul Hale?” The Sheriff raised an eyebrow, “Happy birthday.”

“Really?” Derek shook his head, “Peter and Paul?”

“Mary’s around here somewhere.”

The Sheriff shoved the ID back at Peter, “I really don’t have time to care about any of this when my son is missing.”

“Son?” Peter cocked his head to the side, “The illustrious Stiles is the son of Officer Stilinski.”

The Sheriff pointed to his badge, “It’s Sheriff now.”

“Interesting.”

Derek sighed, “He knows about _everything_ , Peter. Don’t waste your time with any games.”

“Games?” Peter clutched a hand to his chest, “Derek, I would never. Especially not when the boy you love is being held by the same psychopathic witch who tortured me for years while you and your sister left me to rot in this town.”

“Enough!” The Sheriff yelled, “I don’t have time for any of your petty family drama, not when my fucking son is missing _again_.”  

“Well you’ve come to the right place then.” Peter smiled, “I happen to have a very good idea of where our magical friend took Stiles.”

Derek growled and shoved Peter against the wall, “Why the fuck didn’t you say that ten minutes ago?”

Peter’s eyes flashed blue and his claws dug into Derek’s skin, “You never let me.”

The Sheriff cocked his shotgun, the sound making Derek and Peter spring apart, “Take me to my son then.”

“She’s after power, a lot of it, and there’s only one place in Beacon Hills that will give it to her.” Peter looked at Derek, “Can you think of anywhere of significance, nephew?”

Why was Peter asking him? How could Derek possibly know anything about a magical well of power in Beacon Hills? He’d never messed with magic, it was something his mother always warned him against, and Peter and Mariska were the only ones who ever involved themselves in anything dangerous and magical.

“Think, Derek.” Peter prompted, “You know exactly the place, even if you don’t want to think about it.”

“This is insane,” the Sheriff barked, “Stop wasting time and just tell us! My son is out there and this is not getting us any closer to finding him!”

Peter looked up at the sky, squinting, “Your son’s life has at least two more hours left, it will not take us that long to get to him. Derek will never learn anything, never learn to be a true pack member in a position of command if all the hard questions are answered for him.”

Somewhere Derek wouldn’t want to think of?

It struck him like lighting, a place Derek hated, a place Derek worked for years to block out of his mind “The Nemeton. You can’t be serious.”

Peter nodded, “Sadly. I believe our witch is trying to complete a ritual that was started some time ago.”

Derek looked up, horrified.

“It has nothing to do with what happened to you, Derek.” Peter said, his words oddly soothing, “It started long before that.”

“What are you two talking about?” The Sheriff looked lost, “What the hell is a Nemeton? Where is it?”

“It’s in the preserve…” Derek trailed off, “You’ve been there.”

“I have?”

Derek swallowed the lump in his throat, “You were one of the officers on the scene when my girlfriend…”

The Sheriff’s eyes went wide, he scrubbed a hand over his face, “Jesus Christ. Derek…”

Derek shook his head, now wasn’t the time to think about any of that, “We know where Stiles is, we need to call Laura and get everyone together. Scott’s probably done with Allison by now.”

Peter bristled, “I am not working with an Argent.”

Derek looked at Peter sideways, “Who said you’re working with us at all?”

Peter’s eyes flashed blue, “I have a score to settle with that witch, I will be there regardless if you like it or not.”

Derek pulled out his phone and dialed Laura, they both spoke at the same time once she picked up the phone.

“I know where Stiles is.”

“I know where Stiles is.”

They were both quiet for a moment.

“How do you know?” Derek asked.

“Deaton.” Laura said, “How do you know?”

“Peter.” Derek answered.

Laura let out a sigh, “I just talked to Scott, Allison doesn’t know anything about a witch but she wants to help us. She’s meeting us at Deaton’s. Is Peter coming with you?”

“Yes.” Peter answered on his own.

“Peter,” Derek didn’t have to see Laura to know her eyes were red, “Allison Argent is an ally of ours, do you understand that?”

Peter answered with a scowl.

“I’ll make sure he behaves himself.” Derek said, “I’ve got the Sheriff with me too, we’ll meet you at Deaton’s. Peter said…Peter said Stiles only has two hours left.”

“I know,” Laura’s voice was soft, “Deaton said the same thing. Something about stars aligning or whatever magical stuff is going on. It doesn’t matter though, we’re going to get him before that happens.”

“I know.” Derek struggled to keep his claws from popping out.

“I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Derek hung up and tuned back to the small group, “We’re meeting at Deaton’s and going from there.”

The Sheriff nodded, “Get in, I’ll use the lights.”

Peter hummed, “I’ve spent enough time in the back of police cars for my life, I’ll walk.”

“Are you actually going to show up?” Derek asked as he opened the passenger side door to the cruiser.

“Of course,” Peter smiled, “you need me after all. It’s what family does.”

 

X

 

Peter made it to Deaton’s before Derek and Noah Stilinski. It seemed that even with his flashing lights on, the former officer still wasn’t as fast as a werewolf on a mission. It made Peter pause when he thought about Derek riding with the man, Derek of all people should have known he could have made it to the vet faster on foot, but Peter supposed that one did things they normally wouldn’t do to please the parents of the significant other.

Peter wouldn’t know, none of his significant others ever had parents. Mariska’s family was long gone by the time Peter found her, and the man Peter had been interested in before her never would give Peter the time of day so he wouldn’t have been able to meet his human parents anyway.

It was funny in a twisted way, Peter thought, that most supernatural creatures he knew had all lost their parents while the humans he’d met along the way still had at least one of theirs. For all the talk of supernatural creatures being the superior species, they sure didn’t know how to keep their families alive.

Peter picked up a rock the size of his head and threw it into the window of a drug store. The shattered glass didn’t compare to his shattered heart, but the destruction did give him a bit of control that he lacked. He picked up a handful of more rocks and ran down the block, throwing stones into random store windows while he felt the wind rip past his face. Every shard of glass that hit the ground took his mind off of things he’d rather not think about.

Mariska’s smile.

Shattered window.

The gap between Joshua’s two front teeth.

Shattered window.

The look Mariska had on her face when she told Peter she was pregnant.

Shattered window.

The fact that Joshua would have turned 15 this year.

Shattered window.

Peter wondered if Joshua would still be insisting he was a wolf, even though it had long since passed the point of him presenting as one before he’d died in the fire. Peter never had the chance to teach Joshua that being a human member of the family was something to be proud of, that he wasn’t lesser for not having the same gifts as his cousins.

“Simba.” Peter whispered to himself, “Wild, wild little Simba.”

Peter ran into the woods, ripped a small sapling tree from the ground, and slammed it through the windshield of the nicest car that was parked on the street. It didn’t make him hurt less, but the blaring car alarm was enough to overpower the stinging memories.

Derek and Sheriff Stilinski were pulling into the parking lot when Peter finally returned, having had his fill of vandalism.

“We beat you here?” Derek looked skeptical.

Peter grinned, “I took the scenic route.”

The look of distrust Derek leveled him with hurt more than Peter would ever admit. One of the things he’d hope for during the first torturous year of being locked in his own head was that Derek would learn how to forgive him some day. They’d wasted their last year before the fire, drifting apart because of Peter’s terrible lapse in judgment, and there wasn’t a day gone by that Peter didn’t regret it.  Maybe Peter should have forced Derek to listen to him when he apologized, maybe he should have told his sister to fuck off when she told him Derek would learn to forgive him in his own time and that he couldn’t force it.

But Derek never learned to forgive Peter. Derek abandoned Peter, Laura abandoned Peter. The two children Peter would gladly have given his life for left him to rot as a personal voodoo doll to a psychotic witch. And now they both needed Peter’s help to save a poor defenseless boy.

Peter had his life back for less than two weeks and it was already a joke.

Laura met them at the front door and looked at Peter, “Why didn’t you come in earlier.”

He heard Derek huff from behind him.

Peter shrugged, “Why didn’t you come get me?”

Laura flinched, and Peter counted it as a win.

They assembled in Deaton’s magic lair slash containment cell, and Peter kept a wide berth of distance from the far wall Deaton had chained him to before Peter had been deemed safe to be let off his leash. Laura’s child beta was sitting in the corner next to the child hunter. Allison Argent’s eyes flashed with recognition, and Peter’s eyes flashed a blue warning at her. He drew back his lip in a silent snarl while the Argent girl held his gaze. She didn’t blink, didn’t even register any kind of emotion other than indifference while Peter bared his fangs to her. Her hand twitched though, just the slightest movement of fingers towards the bow she had sitting at her side.

Petr counted it as a win.

The banshee was there too, along with a frizzy haired girl that smelled like the backroom of a CVS pharmacy.

These were the people Laura and Derek had replaced him with. The new pack. Peter hated all of them, and what he hated most is how much he wanted them to like him.

Except for Allison Argent, Peter wanted to behead her and send it in a box to her family.

Deaton came down the stairs, “Peter, Laura said you’ve surmised where Stiles is as well?”

Peter leaned against the wall, “The Nemeton. It’s obvious.”

“To you and I, perhaps.” Deaton smiled.

“What is a Nemeton and why did she take Stiles to it?” The banshee asked.

“Good question, banshee.” Peter nodded at her.

“Lydia.” The banshee narrowed her eyes at him.

“Lydia,” Peter gave her a sharp smile, “the Nemeton is a place of power in Beacon Hills, it’s been sleeping for decades but Jennifer, our witch, wants to wake it and siphon its powers for herself.”

“And how do you wake it?” Noah asked.

Deaton and Peter shared a look, and Deaton motioned for Peter to continue.

“A blood sacrifice.” The scent of panic filled the room, wafting off the humans and the banshee, “A sacrifice was attempted twenty years ago, but it wasn’t completed. I assume Jennifer is attempting to finish what was started.”  

“Twenty years ago?” Laura whispered.

“Yes, Laura, twenty years ago a group of men brought a young girl out into the woods, tied her to the Nemeton, and tried to bleed her dry. They would have been successful, had a werewolf not been patrolling the perimeter of his pack’s territory that night.”

Derek blinked, “You?”

 “You were just over a year old, I doubt you’d remember that night.” Peter looked at Laura, “You remember it though, right?”

Laura nodded, “You came back to the house covered in blood…I thought you’d killed someone.”

Peter laughed, “I did. A group of someone’s.”

“You had a woman with you.”

Peter nodded.

Laura looked directly into his eyes, “It was Aunt Mariska.”

Peter tried to not let the memory destroy him, “She liked to joke that our first date ended in murder.”

Deaton spoke up, “The sacrifice was never completed, but it was enough for a small shock of power to be sent out into the world. Do you remember how odd things got after that?”

Laura nodded, “It seemed like mom was always out chasing something or other out of town.”

“I was able to get it under control and after a few months it went back to sleep since the sacrifice wasn’t finished.”

“And now this woman has my son because she wants to wake up a magical tree?” Noah looked at everyone with disbelief, “Why Stiles?”

“Because it is his birthday, I assume. Sacrificial magic works best one days of importance.” Peter answered, “She wanted to use me, but I escaped.”

“It’s your birthday too?” Deaton hummed, “Interesting.”

Deaton unfurled a map and spread it out on the table in the center of the room. Peter pushed himself off the wall and walked to the table, peering over Deaton’s shoulder. There was a red circle in the center of the map indicating the deepest part of the preserve.

Deaton pointed to the circle, “This is where the Nemeton is. You can cut through the woods a few blocks over and it should be about a 20-minute walk for the humans to reach it. I’ve done some more reading about sacrifices made under this phase of the moon and by the time you arrive at the Nemeton I’d estimate you’d have a little under an hour before the ritual is done.”

“What?” Noah exploded, “You said we had _hours_.”

“Sacrifice is not a perfect science, Noah.” Peter looked at him, “Let the man explain so we don’t walk in blind and risk all our lives.”

“There’s one more thing I should tell you,” Deaton said, “when she attacked me earlier she stole several rare ingredients from me that are predominantly used in necromancy. It’s possible she may be expecting your attack and that she’s done…something to defend against it.”

“Zombies?” Noah blinked, “ _Zombies_.”

Peter clicked his tongue, “Revenants. Zombies aren’t real, walking corpses are but there is no such thing as a viral outbreak of zombies.”

“We can take anything she throws at us.” The Argent girl was counting arrows in her quiver.

“Let’s stop wasting time then.” Laura put both hands flat on the table, “We don’t have a lot of it, but we’re going to save Stiles. This is different from Kate, we knew what we were dealing with when we went up against her. We don’t know anything about Jennifer other than the fact that she’s magical and really fucking strong. I don’t want anyone doing anything stupid to get themselves killed. Our goal is Stiles. We get in, disrupt the ritual however we can, get Stiles, and get the fuck out.”

“I’m killing her.” Peter said.

Laura turned on him, her red eyes looking terribly like Talia’s. It took all of Peter’s willpower not to submit to his Alpha. He could barely believe the wolf inside him still recognized Laura as his Alpha.  He wanted to preen, to revel in the gaze of something he’d longed for for the last five years, but he quickly schooled himself.

“I want everyone to make it out of this.” Laura said, “Please. We’ve had too much lost time and…I can’t start to fix things if you’re dead.”

Peter was getting tired of his mood swings. Those were the words he’d so longed to hear from Laura, but they seemed to make him angry. And happy. He didn’t know what he wanted anymore, didn’t know if he wanted to stay content in his anger with her or roll over and offer her forgiveness.

 He stayed silent.

“I won’t be coming with you.” Deaton said.

“What?” Derek looked like he was close to popping his claws out, “We need you.”

“The town needs me more.” Deaton said simply, “If you should fail I need to start working on defenses for an awakened Nemeton.”

Lydia shook her head, “You are the most pessimistic vet I’ve ever met.”

Peter grinned, he was starting to like the banshee.

“Be that as it may, it is still true. I hope you don’t fail, but I cannot ignore the possibility of that happening.”

Peter could tell Laura was frustrated by the way the vein in her forehead throbbed. It had been like that even when she was younger, and Peter used to love testing what would make it appear.

“Fine.” Laura said, her tone short, “Erica, I’m not dumb enough to think you’ll just sit here and do nothing so I want you to stay by Allison at all times. Allison, I trust you’ll be able to keep Erica safe?”

Allison nodded, “I will.”

Peter scoffed. How could Laura trust a pack member with an Argent?

“Scott and I will scout ahead, Derek you lead everyone to the right spot and we’ll ambush immediately.”

“I want to scout with Scott.” Derek said immediately.

“No, you want to be the first person to see Stiles and you won’t be able to contain yourself and that will get you killed. You’re going to lead everyone to the Nemeton, and then we’re going to fight together. That is an order.”

Derek’s fists were clenched but he nodded and bowed his head.

“I’ll go with Derek.” Peter volunteered, since he was left out of werewolf assigned roles, “If a group of revenant’s attack in the woods it would help to have another wolf on their side.”

Laura looked at him and smiled, “That is a good idea. Thank you.”

Peter nodded.

Laura nodded back.

 “Alright, let’s go get Stiles.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *spits in canons face* 
> 
> someone a few chapters ago told me to stop being mean to derek for once and let bad stuff happen to stiles so i guess this is for you lol


	34. Golden Hour II

 

 

 

Chapter 34

Golden Hour II

_In medicine, the golden hour refers to the period of time following a traumatic injury during which there is the highest likelihood that prompt medical and surgical treatment will prevent death._

Derek carried Erica on his back as they made their way through the forest. Peter walked alongside him, Lydia and Allison in the middle, and the Sheriff bringing up the rear. Derek kept his ears open, alert for any possible attack, but everything was quiet in the forest. Too quiet. It was unnatural. Derek couldn’t hear anything, animals, bugs, the wind.

“What happened to Aunt Mariska?” Derek asked Peter.

Peter’s half-second stumble was the only thing that told Derek he startled him, “What do you mean?”

Erica politely turned her head away from the conversation and began to whisper to Lydia.

“I mean, what happened that night? What should we expect?”

Peter took a deep breath, “I was patrolling the woods when I smelled blood, I found Mariska at the Nemeton surrounded by three men in cloaks. Her back had been ripped the shreds, cut open by the men, and her blood was everywhere like the Nemeton was pulling it out of her body. I didn’t think before I acted, I shoved my hand through the chest of one of the men, ripped the throat out of the second one, and broke the third man’s neck. I brought Mariska back to Talia because I didn’t know what else to do.”

“What did mom do?” Derek’s throat felt unusually dry.

“She and I figured something magical must have been involved, what with the creepy men in robes and all, so she called Deaton. Deaton came, tended to the wounds on her back, and gave her a blood transfusion that saved her life. If I had come along a few minutes later she wouldn’t have survived.”

“Why didn’t mom bite her if she was that bad off?” Derek asked.

“No one thought she would survive the bite,” Peter simply said, “She had a greater chance of recovering with Deaton’s help.”

“I don’t remember any of this.” Derek shook his head.

Peter huffed out a laugh, “I’m not surprised, you could barely walk, let alone realize what was happening when a bloody woman was carried through the front door.”

“How old was she?” Derek asked.

Peter looked down at him, “It was the night of her 18th birthday. She’d just been aged out of the foster system and had nowhere to go.”

“I never knew any of this.” Derek shook his head.

“She didn’t like to talk about it,” Peter said simply, “the only people she would ever speak to about it was myself and Talia. She grew very close to Talia during our relationship, they became sisters in a way. She loved everyone though, she always said we were the family she dreamed of having when she was a young girl without one of her own.”

A heavy blanket of sadness settled over Derek. This was the most he’d heard Peter speak about something without throwing a sarcastic barb at him since he’d been back. It was hard for Derek to recognize the Peter he was so angry at with the Peter who looked close to tears talking about his wife. Peter knew what loss felt like too, they all did.

Peter cleared his throat, “In any case, talking about the past won’t help us save your lovely little boyfriend.”

And just like that, Peter had thrown his walls back up.

Derek bit back his reply and instead focused on the way ahead of him. After a few more minutes of walking, the smell of Stiles’ blood hit him like a truck. The intensity of it was so powerful he stumbled and Erica slipped off his shoulders with a scream.

Derek was on his knees; his hands digging into the dirt to try and feel something other than terror at the thought of what was happening to Stiles.

A hand fell onto his shoulder, “Derek?”

Derek looked up to see the Sheriff standing over his, his eyes wide with concern. He looked past him and saw Peter with Erica in his arms, slowly setting her feet onto the forest floor. Peter’s nostrils were flared.

Derek withdrew his clawed hands from the dirt and stood up, brushing his hands off on his jeans, “I can smell Stiles.”

“Is it bad?” The Sheriff asked.

Derek opened his mouth, but Peter cut him off.

“It could be worse, Noah.” Peter said, and for the first time it registered how odd it was that Peter used the Sheriff’s first name when everyone else settled for just calling him Sheriff, “He’s still alive.”

Derek saw Laura’s red eyes before she bounded out of the shadows as a wolf. She walked directly to him, pressing up against his side and butting her head against his balled-up fist. Derek unclenched his fist and let his fingers thread through the fur at the base of Laura’s neck.

Scott came out behind her, “Stiles isn’t that much farther away. It’s…it’s not good but she looks like she’s alone.”

“Revenants can be called at any moment.” Peter supplied.

Laura nodded and then looked up at Scott.

“Laura said earlier she thinks it’s best if we just go straight at her.” Scott said, “If we don’t give her time to prepare any defenses and we just all attack her at once.”

Derek looked to Peter, “You’re the most familiar with witches, do you think that will work?”

Peter tipped his head up to the sky and stuck his tongue out slightly before speaking, “Any witch worth her salt would be able to hold her own against a wolf or two, but there is an Alpha on this side. We also have a banshee, one who’s already shown she can disrupt her magic.”

“Excuse me?” Lydia spoke up from behind Peter, “What?”

“Did I forget to mention that?” Peter cocked his head to the side, “I presume it was the first night that you ever screamed, but it was strong enough that your power echoed through all of Beacon Hills. A banshee’s scream is very rare, and very potent when used correctly, and it was just surprising enough to throw Jennifer off for a moment, breaking her hold over me and allowing me to escape.”

“So we just have Lydia scream at everything?” Erica asked.

Peter shook his head, “She’ll be prepared this time. You can safeguard against a banshee if you’re aware of their presence, it’s just not something people generally have to do because of their rarity.”

“So I’m basically useless?” Lydia folded her arms over her chest.

Peter shrugged, “You said it, not me.”

“That could work in our favor though.” Allison said.

“How?” Derek asked.

“Lydia can still scream, and maybe Jennifer will assume that we think it will give us an advantage. She’ll think that she got one over on us, but while she’s distracted with her gloating we can attack her from the side. It might give us enough time to get Stiles out of there.”

Scott looked down at the ground, “I…I don’t think it will be as easy as just picking Stiles up and running away.”

“Why?” Derek shifted instantly, “What is she doing to him?”

Scott swallowed, and Derek could see the bob of his throat.

“Scott, son.” The Sheriff spoke now, “We need to know.”

The cracking of bones drew Derek’s attention, and then Laura was standing next to him. Derek shrugged off his leather jacket and handed it to her, it didn’t cover much but the Sheriff looked slightly relieved by it.

“He’s pinned to the tree with what looks like daggers, they’re going through his wrist and it looks like the tree is…absorbing his blood.” Laura said softly, “I don’t know if she’ll have a barrier around the tree or the daggers, but even if we do get him off I’m not sure what kind of state he’d be in because of the blood loss.”

Peter sighed, “This is certainly different than what they tried to do to Mariska. Those men were amateurs, but it seems Jennifer knows what she’s doing.”

“At this point, we might have to start thinking about the bite as a way to save his life.” Laura said, “Stiles told me he liked being human, but that if he was ever about to die and the bite could save his life that he’d rather live as a wolf than be a dead human. I can do it if it comes down to it.”

The Sheriff closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them, “You do whatever it takes to save my son.”

Laura nodded, handed Derek’s jacket back to him, and shifted back into a wolf. She knocked her head against Derek’s knee and the snapped her teeth, an indication she wanted Derek to make the final plan.

It was almost too much pressure, but Laura was right in letting him make the final call. Derek needed a measure of control over this situation and telling people what to do usually calmed Derek under a normal situation.

“Lydia, you attack from the front. Scream as loud as you can, but direct it at anything that looks like it’s helping with the ritual. You don’t need to go for damage, just disruption.”

“Got it.” Lydia said, cracking her neck to the side.

“Human’s come in from the left, use your fire to push her towards the tree line behind her. Scott and I will come in front the right and cut off that exit if she tries to run. Peter, you come in behind Lydia as a surprise, and Laura will come from behind. She’ll be boxed in on all sides.”

“Boxing in a witch is usually not the best idea, but I concede the fact that there are no better options.” Peter said, “I agree with your plan.”

“And if the zombies show up?” Scott asked.

“Revenants.” Peter automatically corrected him.

“You kill them again.” Derek said.

“Cool.” Scott nodded, “Stiles is going to be so pissed he missed the zombies.”

Peter threw his hands up in defeat and stalked off into the forest. Lydia followed him. Everyone else broke off into their groups, splitting up take their places. When Derek got to the spot he figured would be best, he finally saw Stiles. It took every ounce of willpower in his body to not run towards him, and Laura was completely right for not bringing him on the scouting trip.

Being told about it first had softened the blow a bit, but it still ripped Derek apart to see Stiles nailed to the flat stump of the Nemeton. Blood was dripping off the side of the stump and into the grass, absorbing itself into the soil around the tree. Stiles’ body was pale, his eyes were closed, but Derek still could hear a relatively steady heartbeat.

Magic was thick in the air, the coppery taste flooding into Derek’s mouth with every breath he took. The hairs on his arms stood straight up as he watched Jennifer. Her back was to him, but the wind was whipping around her body like a storm. She was chanting words in a language that Derek didn’t know, and every now and then she’d pause briefly to look down at Stiles before continuing. The sky above them was dark save for an almost perfectly straight like of stars that led up to the almost full moon. The longer Derek looked at the stars the more convinced he because that they were moving.

Once everyone confirmed their positions with a whisper, Derek looked at Scott and nodded. They both shifted, and Derek could see Laura and Peter’s eyes in the distance as well.

“Peter, give Lydia the signal.” Derek whispered.

Peter’s eyes disappeared for a second, but they came back just as quickly. A moment later Lydia ran out into the clearing, directly in front of Jennifer’s line of sight. Jennifer saw her, and the wind around her body immediately died.

“I was wondering when you’d show up.” Jennifer said, lifting her hand in Lydia’s direction.

Lydia didn’t reply, she simply opened her mouth and let out a scream. Derek still winced when he heard it, the sound making his ears feel like someone was driving an ice pick into them, but if was the first time he’d gotten to see Lydia’s scream without being distract by combat himself.

Lydia’s eyes glowed a soft green, but there was no other evidence of anything happening until the ground next to Jennifer exploded with the impact of the scream. The ground cracked, dirt and grass flying in the air and leaving an ankle-deep hole in the ground next to Jennifer.

“You missed.” Jennifer said.

Lydia screamed again, aiming for Jennifer’s feet. Jennifer jumped backwards, but she left her bag in the exact spot that Lydia seemed to be aiming for. The force of the scream ripped the bag apart and Derek watched as jars cracked, throwing all manner of herbs and other magical items into the wind.

Lydia’s green eyes were darker now, and this time she aimed directly at Jennifer. She stepped forward with her left foot, leaned forward slightly while throwing her arms behind her, and screamed louder than Derek had heard her before. Derek swore he could see the ripples of energy coming from Lydia’s mouth if he focused enough.

Jennifer stood rooted in place as she lifted her hand in front of her, palm flat and facing Lydia. The scream hit the center of Jennifer’s hand, but nothing happened to her. The scream seemed to bend around Jennifer like she was a tree in the middle of a stream. The ground immediately to Jennifer’s left and right-hand sides exploded, the impact having been rerouted there instead of at Jennifer herself.

“Fool me once.” Jennifer said, and then Lydia’s body was tossed to the side out of nowhere.

Just as Lydia het the ground, one of Allison’s arrows flew through the air. Jennifer turned just in time to avoid it going into her side, but it did slide through her robe and Derek could smell the blood it drew. Allison wasted no time running out of the woods and firing off another arrow, and then a third. Jennifer caught them both in mid-air, her flat hand turned into a fist and Derek watched as the arrows crumpled in on themselves and fell uselessly to the ground.

Allison fired another, and Jennifer caught it in the air again. This time though, she spun her hand and the arrow changed directions, firing itself back at Allison. Allison rolled out of the way just in time to avoid an arrow in her shoulder. She fired off yet another arrow, this time though the arrow landed on the ground in front of Jennifer.

Jennifer laughed, “Are you even trying?”

“Scott, close your eyes.” Derek grabbed the back of Scott’s head and pushed it into his shoulder just as the arrow erupted into a shower of sparks and ultraviolet light.

Jennifer screamed, and when Derek opened his eyes Jennifer was stumbling backwards and rubbing at hers. The Sheriff came out behind Allison, he cocked his shotgun and fired at Jennifer. Blood bloomed across Jennifer’s shoulder as she yelled in pain. She’d been hit, but the Sheriff was too far away to do any devastating damage with a shotgun.

“Let’s go!”

Derek roared out of the clearing, knocking his shoulder into Jennifer and sending her sprawling to the ground. Scott was right behind him, growing furiously and pouncing towards Jennifer. Jennifer held up both hands, and Scott collided into an invisible barrier instead of Jennifer. Jennifer slammed her fist into the ground and it rumbled before what looked like a sharp tree root shot up from the ground and speared itself through Scott’s leg, pulling him back down to the ground.

Scott screamed out in pain, and then Peter rushed from the forest. He had always been faster than Derek, but he was almost a blur even to Derek’s enhanced eyes. He stopped by Scott first, cutting his claws through Jennifer’s magical root and allowing Scott to pull his injured leg off it, and then he ran directly at Jennifer.

Jennifer smiled when she saw him, recognition fluttering across her face. She slammed both fists onto the ground and two more roots sprung from the surface and towards Peter. Peter cut down the first one easily, but the second one was able to wrap itself around his ankle like a snake and slam him into the ground.

Derek sprang into action, leaping onto the root and clawing at it furiously until it was a shredded mess and Peter’s ankle was free. When Derek looked down at his hands they were covered in blood. He immediately knew it was Stiles’ blood.

Jennifer was on her feet again, catching bullets and arrows from Allison and the Sheriff while throwing up barriers to stop Scott and Peter from getting any closer to her. Derek furiously wiped the blood from his hands and joined Scott and Peter, pouncing at Jennifer just to be hit by an invisible wall. It was working through, they were driving Jennifer towards Laura. Jennifer’s back was to the woods, and Derek could see Laura’s red eyes over her shoulder.

Arrow after arrow, bullet after bullet, werewolf after werewolf, Jennifer moved backwards inch by inch. Erica was standing off to the side with Lydia who’d just recovered when Laura came flying out of the forest.

Jennifer was completely unaware of Laura’s presence until Laura’s heavy body crashed into her back. Jennifer was take by surprise, and she fell forward with a thump as Laura pressed the immense weight of her body down onto Jennifer’s back. Scott and Peter immediately ran to Jennifer’s sides, grabbing her hands and pinning them down so she couldn’t cast anymore spells. Laura’s jaws hovered over Jennifer’s neck, and Allison and the Sheriff both pointed their weapons at her head.

“It’s over!” Derek growled, “You’re done! Stop fighting!”

Jennifer started to chant something, but Laura barked in her ear and dug the tips of her claws into Jennifer’s shoulder blade, drawing blood.”

Peter looked up, “Go to Stiles while we have the chance. We can’t kill her until we know Stiles is safe and we don’t need her to undo a spell.”

Derek nodded, and he grabbed the crook of the Sheriff’s elbow, tugging him towards Stiles.

“Let’s go get him.” Derek said, pushing the butt of the shotgun down.

Derek turned and ran to Stiles, the sheriff right behind him. It took an insane amount of control to not run back to Jennifer and break her neck when he got a closer look at Stiles. His body was almost translucently pale, the daggers in his wrist, sunk through almost to the hilt, were blood red and dripping. There was a pool of blood on the stump of the Nemeton, and the excess poured over the edge like a waterfall.

The Sheriff choked out a sob, “Oh my god.”

Derek listened for a heartbeat. It was still steady, there were almost no blips or anything to tell Derek that Stiles was in trouble or anywhere close to dying.

“I…I don’t think this is all Stiles’ blood.” Derek said.

He smelled Stiles’ blood, and a lot of it, but if all the blood on the Nemeton belonged to Stiles then the smell would be unbearable, and Stiles would be long dead from blood loss.

“Peter said she was trying to complete a ritual, this blood might have been…waiting in the Nemeton?”

“Whoever’s blood it is, we still need to get him off of there.”

Derek nodded, he climbed on the top of the Nemeton, wading through the thick blood, and straddled Stiles’ midsection. He wrapped both hands around the hilt of one of the daggers, and he immediately screamed in pain. He pulled his hands back and looked at the raw, bubbling blisters on the thin skin of his palms.

“Derek? What happened?” The Sheriff asked.

He turned his hands to the Sheriff, “They’re coated with wolfsbane.”

Jennifer laughed from across the clearing, “Oops.”

Derek didn’t care. He didn’t care about the pain, or the poison, he just wanted to save Stiles. He grabbed the dagger with both hands again, screaming through the pain as he pulled with all his strength. He pulled until the poison of the wolfsbane had stripped his skin to the bone, but the dagger didn’t budge. He tired again, desperately grabbing and pulling, but it brought him nothing but pain. He looked down at his ruined hands, at Stiles’ pale face, and felt utterly useless. He wanted to scream, cry, fucking hurt someone, but he couldn’t do anything. Stiles was dying just feet from where Paige had died all those years ago, and for the second time in a row Derek was powerless to stop it from happening.

“Fuck!” Derek screamed, “I can’t get them out!”

The sky above them rumbled, and Derek looked over his shoulder just in time to see every person around Jennifer get thrown through the air. Allison and Scott were thrown towards Lydia and Erica. Laura was thrown backwards, crashing into a tree and taking it down with her. Peter landed on the ground next to the Sheriff.

Jennifer was on her feet again, and Derek watched as she started to hover off the ground. It was only a few inches, but she spun in a circle in the air, her hands held out of the side as she muttered something under her breath.

Derek felt his breath catch in his throat as several hands punched up through the ground.

 

X

 

Erica was so far beyond out of her element. She’d seen her friends get thrown across the forest, stabbed with trees, and now there were zombies involved. Lydia was barely conscious, her eyes glassy and squinted, as Erica watched a hand shoot out of the ground in front of her. It was like every George Romero movie she’d ever seen come to life.

She watched as a second hand appeared right next to the first one and clawed at the ground, digging a hole until a head popped out. It was decidedly less…gory than Erica had pictured it, the zombie just looked like a guy who was dead, not a rotting fleshy corpse. The zombie pulled itself out of the ground, standing about twenty feet away from her and dressed in all black tactical gear. He was wearing a bullet proof vest, and there were several knives strapped to his legs.

An arrow hit the zombie in the leg, it stumbled backwards but simply ripped the arrow out and threw it on the ground before turning to look in the direction it came from.

Allison pulled another arrow out and shot it, hitting the zombie in the throat. It didn’t flinch, didn’t stumble backwards, and just started lumbering towards Allison. It wasn’t terribly fast, but it wasn’t a slow and stumbling video game zombie either. Allison fired off another arrow, and it hit the zombie right in the center of its forehead.

Every bit zombie logic Erica had learned up to this point told her that the zombie should have been dead after that, but it just ripped the arrow out, along with a chunk of its skin and _that_ made it look more like a movie zombie.

“Come on,” Allison ran over to Erica and helped her up, “we need to get distance between it and us.”

Erica looked around and noticed there were several more zombies crawling out of the ground. There were four in total, all lumbering towards different members of the pack. Erica watched as Scott shoved one of his claws through another zombie’s chest only for the zombie to pick him up and throw him on top of Laura.

“OK,” Erica said slightly panicked, “Zombies with super strength.”

Laura tackled the zombie that had thrown Scott and was digging her teeth into its neck when Scott ran over to Erica and Allison. He bent down and picked up Lydia, carrying her bridal style.

“Do these guys look familiar to you?” Scott asked Allison.

Erica looked over her shoulder at the sound of a shotgun blast and saw the Sheriff blow the arm off one of the zombies. Peter Hale grabbed the arm like a baseball bat and used it to hit the zombie in the stomach, sending it flying into a second one that was walking towards them. Peter smiled at the Sheriff, but the Sheriff ignored him and shot another zombie.

Derek was still with Stiles, screaming in pain as he tried to pull the daggers out of Stiles’ wrists.

Erica screamed as she felt something grab her ankle, and she looked down to see a pale fleshy hand clawing at her sneakers. She stomped her foot on the hand, over and over again until the hand looked mangled and broken, and another hand popped up right next to it.

Allison pulled a knife out of her boot and swiped it across the hand, cutting it off. She stabbed it through with an arrow, loaded it into her bow, and used it to shoot the zombie that was still pursuing them.

“In case it started to move.” Allison said, by way of expiation.

“Seriously, these guys look really familiar.” Scott said again.

Another shotgun blast, and now Erica could see clear through the stomach of one of the zombies near Peter and the Sheriff.

“They’re the hunters Laura and I buried.” Allison said, pointing to the zombie that was still coming for them, “I’ve already killed that guy once.”

The zombie threw all his body weight and stumbled towards Allison, Erica shivered, “I think he remembers.”

The zombie in the ground somehow managed to use one mangled hand to dig its head out. Scott and Allison were focused on the zombie that was still after them, so Erica took a deep breath, moved backwards and few steps, and then took a running start before kicking the zombies head like a soccer ball.

The head popped off with a sickening snap, and Erica watched it roll across the ground, only stopping when it hit a tree. The flesh then started to melt away, bubbling until there was nothing left but a skull that was starting to turn to dust.

“The head!” Erica yelled, “Rip off their heads!”

“What?” Allison and Scott asked in unison.

Erica pointed to the crumbling skull in the corner, “Decapitate the fuckers!”

Allison rolled across the ground, sweeping her leg out to knock the zombie over, and Scott jumped on top of it, twisting the zombie’s neck until the head popped off. He immediately gagged as the flesh started to melt in his hands, and he tossed the skull to the side.

Everyone else seemed to have gotten the memo. Laura grabbed the head of her zombie in her mouth, shaking her head violently until it ripped off and spitting it out before it started to melt. Peter proudly held a melted zombie head in his hand, and the Sheriff completely obliterated the last one with his shotgun.

Erica cocked her head to the side, “Does five zombies seem…underwhelming to anyone else?”

Allison scanned the forest, “Where’s Jennifer?”

Erica’s head whipped around in every direction to try and find the woman, but she couldn’t see her. It wasn’t until she looked up that she saw fluttering black robes against the backdrop of the moon.

“Up there!” Erica yelled.

Allison looked up, immediately pulling an arrow out and firing it up at Jennifer. The arrow sailed right past Jennifer, falling out of the sky and landing on the other side near Laura. Jennifer’s eyes were closed, and she was too far away to hear what she was saying without werewolf enhancements, but she could see Jennifer’s lips moving rapidly.

The ground beneath them rumbled, and Erica had a terrible feeling that something bad was about to happen. Erica ran to Lydia and helped her stand just as Laura made her way over, she flicked her head towards the Nemeton and began to herd them in the same direction.

The ground shook again, and Erica gasped as more hands shot through the ground. More than five, way more than five. There had to be at least thirty of them, all of them in different states of decay, some of them were even just bones. They all frantically clawed at the dirt, ripping the earth open as they tried to escape it.

Erica startled when she bumped into someone else, letting out a scream before realizing it was just Peter. Just Peter whose hands were covered with melted zombie and looked like he was having fun.

“Remember when I said five zombies were underwhelming? I take that back now.”

Peter sighed, “They’re not zombies!”

Erica glared at him, “I’m glad you’ve still found time to care about semantics when one of our friends is dying and we’re about to be mobbed by _zombies_.”

 She looked back at Stiles and saw the Sheriff trying to tug Derek off him. Derek’s jeans were soaked with blood, and his hands were bloody and raw.

“Derek, that’s wolfsbane, you’re going to kill yourself if you keep trying this.” The Sheriff said.

“I have to get them out!” Derek screamed, shrugging the Sheriff off.

Lydia, who was standing next to her, suddenly went rigid and then gasped for air. Erica looked at her and she looked like the same Lydia who had completely obliterated the library the night the Rougarou attacked them. Lydia turned her head, her eyes zeroing in on Derek, and she ran towards him. She threw herself through the air and onto Derek’s back, wrapping her arms around his neck and surprising him enough that she was able to pull him off Stiles and onto the ground.

The last thing Erica saw before everything erupted into chaos was a blindingly bright light.

 

X

 

The first thing Stiles saw when he opened his eyes was total darkness. It wasn’t like the darkness of being outside when there was no moon, or like laying in bed during a power outage, it was the type of darkness that was so dark and so oppressive that you were sure you could see things moving in it.

And Stiles was sure he could see things moving in the darkness.

The second thing Stiles noticed was that he was standing in a pool of water. It was shallow, only just up to his ankles, but it was still odd. The last thing Stiles remembered was being stabbed in the wrists and pinned to an evil tree by a crazy witch.

Stiles was pretty sure he was dead, and he felt like he was having a panic attack because of it. Which fucking sucked, because if he was dead he should at least be able to escape having panic attacks. Unless he was in hell, because hell seemed like the type of place where you’d have an eternity full of panic attacks.

Stiles took a deep breath, many, many, many deep breaths until he felt himself calming down. When he’d managed to stave off the worst of it, he looked around again. There was nothing but darkness on all sides, and the water at his feet seemed to stretch on for as far as he could see.

 He didn’t know what to do. If he was in hell he’d expect someone to meet him upon arrival with a list of sins a mile long, but there was no one else. Only Stiles and the darkness. Maybe he was in limbo? Limbo sounded better than hell, limbo implied that he wasn’t entirely dead yet.

And at least he wasn’t on an island with polar bears.

“Hello?” Stiles called out, “Anyone?”

His voice echoed through the space like he was in a cave, but there were no walls anywhere in sight for the sound to bounce off of.

“Is anyone there?” Stiles called out again, craning his neck as the phantom of his voice echoed on and on until it faded out.

_Stiles_

Stiles flinched as he heard something whisper his name. It sounded so close, like it was standing right over his shoulder. He spun, the water around his feet sloshing as he moved, but there was no one behind him. He checked all sides, slowly circling to see if there was anyone or anything near him, but he was all alone.

“Great,” Stiles said to himself, “all alone except for the creepy voices.”

_Stiles_

_Stiles_

_Stiles_

_Stiles_

The whisper repeated his name, each repetition sounded like it was getting closer. Stiles stumbled backwards, managing to catch himself before he fell in the water. He stood still and looked around into the darkness, but there was nothing visible that could be saying his name.

Something in the water moved.

Stiles thought it was just his imagination at first when he saw a ripple in the still water, but then something brushing against his ankle. It slithered through the water, winding between his feet like a snake. That was all it took to tell Stiles he needed to leave that spot _immediately_.

He picked a direction that didn’t sound like it had voices or creepy water snakes coming from it and he ran. His feet splashed through the water, sending ripples across the still surface. His footfalls echoed along with the splashing water. It felt like he was running in place, like he was moving but not getting any further than where he’d started.

Stiles didn’t realize the water level had risen until it was past his stomach. He stopped, his feet still as flat as if he was standing on solid ground. He pushed his arms out to the side, the water moving around him like he was in a pool.

_Stiles_

_Stiles_

_Stiles_

_Stiles_

_Stiles_

_Stay_

_Go_

_Run_

_Stop_

_Stiles_

_Stiles_

_Good Boy_

_Stiles_

_Stiles_

**_Mieczyslaw_ **

The last one was enough to send Stiles into a full blown frantic mania.

“Stop!” Stiles screamed, “Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!”

He turned around and ran in a different direction, covering his ears and keeping his eyes closed as he ran. He didn’t want to see any more of this place, didn’t want to hear any more of the whispers. He wanted to be home, he wanted to be with his dad, with Derek, with the pack.

Stiles stopped running after what felt like hours. When he opened his eyes, the water was back at his ankles, but Stiles’ clothes were completely dry. He was sure he felt them sticking to his body when he was deeper in the water, but even when he lifted his shoes out of the water they came up completely dry.

He was breathing heavily, and his hands were shaking, but he didn’t know what else to do. Everywhere he went led him to something he didn’t want to face. He couldn’t take the darkness, or the voices, or the water, but that was all that was offered to him.

He sat down, his legs crossed like he was in kindergarten. He didn’t know what to do, but he felt like he couldn’t stand anymore. His legs hurt, his arms hurt, his head hurt, he felt drained. He didn’t know if the place was draining him, or if he was wearing himself out with all the panic and running, but either way he was losing energy.

Stiles could see his reflection on the glassy surface of the black water. He looked terrible, his eyes sunken in, his skin paler than he’d ever seen it before. His hair was longer, his lips were chapped, and his eyes were vacant. He slapped the water and his reflection dissolved, when the water calmed itself he saw an entirely different Stiles. He looked more like how he’d looked in the mirror of Derek’s bathroom, just a little more haggard.

“Please,” Stiles whispered to no one but the darkness, “Please let me out of here.”

“Stiles.”

Stiles flinched at the sound of his name again. He wanted to scramble away from the voice, but he didn’t have the will to move.

“Stiles look at me.”

The voice was soft, but still firm in its tone. Like it didn’t want to scare him, but still needed Stiles to listen to it.

“Go away.” Stiles squeezed his eyes shut, “You’re not real. Go away.”

The voice sighed, “I am real, and you’d know what if you would look at me.”

The voice belonged to a woman, that much Stiles could tell. The other voices he’d heard didn’t sound like they had a gender attached to them, just terror, so that was a point in this voices favor.

“Listen, you’ve got a lot of people who are going to be very upset if you do not look at me and I don’t have a lot of time left to help you.” The voice sounded like she was starting to get angry, “My niece and nephew have lost quite a lot already, don’t make them lose you too because you were a scared and stubborn child!”

“What?” Stiles looked over his shoulder and locked eyes with a woman.

She was like a light in the darkness. She wore a blue dress, auburn hair cascading over her shoulders, and Stiles instantly felt safe under the guise of her green eyes. Stiles had never seen a picture of the woman, and he’d only heard her name a handful of times, but something inside told him that he knew exactly who she was.

“You’re Mariska.”

Mariska cracked a small smile, “Ten points to Slytherin.”

Stiles finally found the will to stand up, “What? How do you know I’d be a Slytherin?”

Mariska just cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Right. I guess that makes sense.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Mariska rolled her eyes, “You’re done being a sniveling child then, right?”

“Is this how you talk to everyone who gets stuck in this hell hole? I’ve got to say, if you’re the official greeter of this place you’re not doing a great job at it.”

“You’re the first person I’ve met here, so I can’t say I’ve had much practice.” Mariska crossed her arms over her chest, “You’re more difficult than I’d imagined.”

“I have a witty retort for that, trust me, but I think I’d rather get out of here instead.” Stiles hung his head, “I really don’t like this place.”

“It’s not a place that’s designed to be liked.” Mariska said.

Stiles looked around, they were still standing in the darkness, and he had no idea where Mariska could have even come from. She was supposed to be dead, so why was she here with him and claiming that Stiles himself wasn’t dead yet?

“What is this place?” Stiles asked.

“It doesn’t have an official name, but it’s been called many things for many years in different languages.” Mariska said, “an neamhní, prázdnota, το κενό, пустота, pustka, cum vacui. All of them roughly translate into the same thing when spoken in English.”

Stiles recognized the last two, one from his grandmother and one from a late night google binge when he read a Latin dictionary online, “The void.”

Mariska hummed, seemingly impressed, “Smart kid. I see why they like you.”

“Is this limbo? Is that why you’re here? I thought you were supposed to be dead.”

“I am dead.” Mariska said immediately, “This is not limbo and there is no chance of brining me back, so please do no leave this place and give anyone that false hope.”

None of this made any sense, “If you can’t leave then why can I? I’m sorry, I just don’t understand what’s happening, one second I’m being sacrificed to an evil tree god and the next I wake up here with you.”

Mariska took a deep breath, “The void is a place made entirely of dark magic. It is filled with demons, and things far more terrifying than you could ever dream of, things that can follow you in, and things that can follow you out. I brought you here.”

“Thanks?” Stiles didn’t like how that sounded.

“I made a deal before I died, a terrible, terrible deal. In exchange for power, I didn’t get to cross over, and my soul was abandoned here. I’d dabbled with the void too many times when I was alive, crossing into it for brief seconds to amplify my powers in moments of crisis. It takes a toll on you and opens you up to terrible things. I’ve seen…glimpses of what family I have left, and I could feel when someone starting messing with the powers in Beacon Hills.”

“How?” Stiles asked, “You said you’re trapped here.”

“I have a connection with the Nemeton.” Mariska said softly, “I was once in your position.”

“Someone tried to sacrifice you to it?” Stiles asked, “Holy shit.”

“They weren’t very good at their job, thankfully, but I was changed that night. I was taken as a girl, orphaned and alone, and I woke up more powerful than I ever could have imagined.”

Stiles’ eyes went wide, “The Nemeton gave you your magic?”

Mariska shook her head, “ _Something_ gave me my magic, but it wasn’t the Nemeton.”

“How did you bring me here?”

Mariska started walking, “You’re close to death back in your world, your soul was just barely holding on to your body, so I tapped into the power swirling around the Nemeton and brought your soul here to me.”

“Why?”

Mariska stopped walking and looked at him, “Because I can save you, and you can save Beacon Hills.”

“How?” Stiles couldn’t manage anything but one-word questions at this point.

“The Nemeton isn’t fully awoken, and it won’t be until you’re dead. If the Nemeton awakens it will…not be good. I mentioned before that something gave my powers when I was almost lost to the Nemeton, and now I want to give my powers to you.”

“ _You_ want to give _me_ magic?” Stiles’ jaw dropped, “Am I following that correctly?”

Mariska looked at him like he was a child, “Yes. That is what I said.”

“How?” Stiles was back to single questions.

“Magic is a part of the user, it’s not just something that is inside their body, it’s burned into their soul. It leaves a mark that will never go away, even in death. My magic, what’s left of it, is still inside me.” Mariska grabbed Stiles hand and pressed it to the center of her chest, he felt something burning under her skin, warm and comforting, “I can give you my soul, but I will be gone for good when I do. I won’t exist in the void, nor anywhere else.”

“But if I have your soul wouldn’t you…be inside me?” Stiles cringed at the working.

Mariska laughed, the sound echoing loudly through the void, “No, that’s not quite how souls work. You’d have my magic, but nothing more of me. It’s _possible_ that you might retain some of my memories, or you may feel déjà vu upon seeing something I once saw, but it’s not like I will be living inside your body with you. I will be, for all intents and purposes, truly dead.”  

“You would do that?” Stiles asked.

“What else do I have but an endless existence in the void?” Mariska sounded bitter now.

“You said you can see your family sometimes.” Stiles offered.

“Do you think that is something that I want? To see Derek and Laura lost and alone in the world, so scared that they abandoned their family and fled across the country? Do you think I want to see the man I love bound by magic and tortured for years? Do you think I want to see-” Mariska stopped speaking abruptly, “I can do _nothing_ here. You, however, can take my magic and continue what I would have spent the rest of my life doing: protect the Hale pack and everyone within it.”

The idea honestly terrified Stiles. How was he supposed to know what to do? He wanted to protect everyone, of course he did, but what Mariska was offering him was a lot. A lot of power. A lot of responsibility.

“There’s no other way to get me out of here?” Stiles asked, just to be sure.

“I can send your soul back, but you will die.”

“This is a lot,” Stiles said softly, “I think I’m supposed to be jumping up and down at the chance to say yes to this…”

Mariska shook her head, “I understand. And I’m sorry. I wish there was another way, but there isn’t.”

“How will I know what to do?” Stiles asked, “I can barely go a lacrosse practice without braining myself and you want to trust me with your magic?”

“It won’t be easy,” Mariska answered him honestly, “Control is very hard, but it’s not as hard as learning your limits and not testing your powers. It’s harder to know your limits, to not feel the burn of desire for more power. You’ll need people you can trust that will tell you when you’re going to far.”

“With great power comes great responsibility.” Stiles said, the words sounding odd in his mouth.

Mariska laughed, rolling her eyes, “I was going more for _absolute power corrupts absolutely_ , but we can go with your version. It’s more optimistic.”

Stiles thought of everyone who could ever call himself out on his bullshit.

His dad. Erica. Lydia. Derek. Laura.

None of them would let Stiles go over the deep end.

“Peter can help you, if you let him.” Mariska’s smile was sad. “He’s the reason I’m alive, and the reason I didn’t use my powers to destroy cities when I got angry.”

Stiles swallowed the lump in his throat, “OK.”

“You agree?”

Stiles nodded, “How do we do this?”

“Give me your hand.”

Mariska held out her hand, and Stiles reached forward and grabbed it. He was immediately swallowed by a feeling of warmth, it wrapped itself around his shoulders and spread all over his body. Mariska’s hand started to glow, and her eyes began to shine silver.

“Holy crap.” Stiles said, his words echoing in his ears.

“It’s almost done.” Mariska sounded farther away now, but she was still in front of him.

“Is there anything you want me to tell anyone?” Stiles asked, “Please, you have to let me do something for you.”

“Laura and Derek aren’t the only Hale’s still alive.” Mariska paused, “Tell Peter that-”

Mariska’s entire body flared with energy, white sparks erupting into brilliant flames and shining prisms of light that pieced the darkness of the void.

Mariska was gone now, and all that was left of her was the light.

The light illuminated the darkness, and Stiles saw the void for what it truly was. The eyes of demons fell upon him, what had to be hundreds of them looked directly at him. They rushed forwards, clambering over each other to get to him. Stiles could hear them scream his name, he could feel the heat of their terrible bodies as they got closer.

But Stiles didn’t feel scared of them anymore, not when he was standing in front of such brilliant light, and he turned his back to the hoard.

Stiles stepped into the light.

 

X

 

Peter wouldn’t have believed it if he wasn’t there to see it himself.

One moment, they were cornered an army of _revenants_ while a psychotic witch floated above them, and the next the forest was filled with a blindingly white light. Everyone was shocked by it, except maybe the banshee who’d just tackled Derek off the source of the light.

Peter heard Stiles’ gasp before he saw anything else, he heard the way the boys heart kickstarted and began to beat into overdrive. The light cleared as quickly as it came, and the forest returned to its normal nighttime darkness.

Except this time, Stiles Stilinski was standing.

The daggers that had bound him to the tree now floated in mid-air on either side of his face. His clothes were bloody, and his wrists still dripped from their opened wounds, but he was standing. Something was different about this Stiles though, and Peter could taste the change in the amount of magic in the air. It was doubled, almost tripled, and it was all coming from Stiles.

When Stiles opened his eyes, they were completely white. Peter’s breath caught in his throat, he’d only seen that once before. Peter blinked, and then he saw Mariska standing in Stiles place. He blinked again, and Stiles was back.

“Oh my god.” Erica whispered.

“Stiles?” Noah looked up at his son, and if Peter still had a heart it would have broken when he saw the look of relief mixed with terror on Noah’s face.

Laura growled, though Peter was unsure if she was growing at Stiles or at the army of dead in front of them.

Jennifer’s eyes were wide with a mixture of shock and fear, and that alone made Peter grin.

Peter couldn’t see Derek from the other side of the Nemeton, but he could hear the way his heart was beating out of his chest.

Everyone seemed to be surprised by Stiles, and they were even more surprised by what happened next.

Peter could only describe it as the finale to Carrie.

Stiles held both hands out in front of him, and the daggers that once bound him to the Nemeton moved at his will. The daggers flew through the crowd of revenants, decapitating every single one of them in seconds. Their bodies fell to the ground, flesh melting from their frames before their bones turned to dust.

Stiles walked forward, the blood around his feet splashing with each footfall. When he got to the edge of the Nemeton he kept walking, and Peter watched in awe as Stiles walked through the air. He was poised, regal, elegant even, as he made his way across the forest towards Jennifer.

Derek was next to Peter now, ready to blindly chase after Stiles. Peter reached out and wrapped his hand around Derek’s wrist, Derek jerked his arm and tried to pull away, but Peter just held on tighter.

“Derek,” Peter shook his head, “I don’t think you want to involve yourself in this.”

“That’s Stiles!” Derek growled.

“I’m not quite sure that’s entirely true.”

The woods were silent now, the only sound coming out of them were the sound of blood droplets dripping from Stiles’ body to the grass below. Jennifer was on the ground and she attempted to summon another tree root, but nothing came. She used her magic to pull a tree from the ground and send it flying towards Stiles, but Stiles simply stepped out of the way as he continued walking through the air.

He was getting closer to Jennifer by the second, and she had nowhere to go. She could try to run, but Peter thought it would be pointless. Stiles had a score to settle with her, and Peter was sure he wouldn’t rest until it was done.

Stiles stopped moving. Jennifer reached her hand out, and her magic must have grabbed Stiles leg because a second later Peter, and all the other wolves, heard a sickening snap. Peter winced at the sound, at the way Stiles’ leg was bent into an unnatural angle, but Stiles didn’t even register the attack.

“Oh my god.” Erica’s hands covered her mouth.

“Stiles.” Lydia’s voice was barely above a whisper.

Peter hadn’t registered Laura shifting back, but she stood next to him as a human.

“Do you know what’s happening?” Laura asked, her voice low.

Peter nodded, “I think Stiles found some power.”

“We have to help him,” Scott said, his voice growing more frantic as he went on, “she’s going to kill him and he won’t even realize!”

Peter didn’t think that would happen. He watched as Stiles, still floating in the air, raised a single hand in Jennifer’s direction. Jennifer let out a feral scream as she was ripped off the ground by unseen hands, and Stiles cocked his head to the side and looked at her.

Jennifer’s body was suspended mid-air, her limbs flailing as she tried to conjure any spell she could think of to save herself.

For a moment, Peter was sure that Stiles was going to crush her entire body under the power of his magic like Jennifer had done to Allison’s arrows, but Peter was slowly learning not to go with his initial thoughts. A moment later, Stiles simply lifted his hand and tossed Jennifer into the air.

It was almost comical, and if Peter wasn’t in the company he was in, he would have laughed at the image of Stiles Stilinski picking a woman up and tossing her into the air.

He threw Jennifer above the tree line, and Peter watched as her body disappeared into the darkness. Her body was moving so fast, and Stiles threw her what looked like _miles_ away, there was no way Jennifer would survive the impact once she eventually hit the ground.

Everyone was silent, so quiet Peter could barely even hear their hearts beating. It was deafening as they all stared at Stiles, still suspended in the air with a broken leg. The sound only started again when Stiles’ body dropped to the ground without warning.

Derek took off, sprinting across the woods and jumping through the air to catch Stiles before his head collided with the rocky ground. Peter ran after him, curious to see just what shape the boy would be in. He could hear the rest of the group behind him as he ran, and he skidded to a stop when he saw Derek holding a broken and bloody Stiles in his arms.

The bleeding from his wrists had resumed, and his eyes were still open, but they were glassy and unfocused.

“He’s dying,” Derek said, his voice trembling, “I can feel it.”

Peter’s mind instantly flashed back to a younger Derek, sitting in almost the exact same spot with a dying human in his arms. The guilt of it all hit Peter again, like a tidal wave wiping out a coastal city in one fell swoop. It was almost too much to take, and Peter wasn’t sure Derek would survive losing another person.

Derek may have hated him, and Peter may have been working thorough his anger at Derek and his sister, but Derek was still his family and Peter didn’t want to see him anymore broken than he already was.

Peter did the only thing he could think of. He took his shirt off, ripping it in two and crouching down next to Derek. Derek looked up at him with furious blue eyes.

“What are you doing?” Derek snapped.

Peter held out a strip of his torn shirt, “He’s losing blood, we need to stop the bleeding.”

Derek’s eyes focused on Peter’s hand until he realized what Peter was saying. He quickly grabbed the torn shirt from Peter and tightly wound it around Stiles’ wrist, tying it into a strong knot when the fabric wouldn’t circle anymore. Peter repeated the same process on Stiles’ other wrist just as Laura ran up to them.

“Laura,” Derek said quickly, “Laura, he’s dying. You have to…the bite. You need to bite him.”

Laura took a deep breath, looked at Derek, then over her shoulder at Noah, and nodded. She dropped to her knees and sat next to Stiles, carding a hand through his damp hair. Peter moved to sit next to her, locking eyes with Stiles. He reached out and pressed the back of his hand to Stiles’ forehead and hissed in pain before jerking his hand backwards.

Stiles entire body burned to the touch, and Peter had only ever felt that same pain once.

“Stop!” Peter said quickly just as Laura bent down to bite him, “Laura, don’t! You’ll kill him!”

Laura and Derek both whirled on him, “What?”

“He’s burning up with magic inside him, there’s no way his body would be able to survive the bite. It would reject it instantly.”

“I don’t understand.” Derek’s hands were trembling now, “I don’t…”

“He’s overpowered, overcharged, whatever happened to him burned him out. His body is throwing up defenses now. The magic that is inside of him would react to the bite as an attack and it would essentially be a war within him, a war that Stiles would lose.” Peter said, “You have to trust me.”

“Peter…” Derek’s voice was soft and broke.

“Derek, please, I have seen this before and I know it won’t end well.”

“We need to get him to the hospital then.” Noah pushed his way through everyone and bent down to pick up Stiles.

Peter stood, helping Noah lift Stiles and propping him up between the two of them. Noah was right, the only thing that could save Stiles now was human medicine. He’d lost too much blood, and just like Mariska on the night he found her, the only thing that could save her was swift medical intervention. Deaton probably didn’t have a surplus of blood laying around, so the hospital it was.

“I’ll carry him.” Peter said.

“No!” Derek growled, “Don’t touch him!”

“Derek.” Peter used his petulant toddler controlling voice, “Do not be stupid. I am faster than you are without a human on your back, I can still run faster than you with one on my back. Do not let your hatred for me kill Stiles.”

Derek blinked, “I…”

Peter shook his head, “Just follow me. We’re not far from the hospital and I know a shortcut.”

“I’ll lead everyone back to their cars,” Laura said, looking at the Sheriff, “We’ll head straight to the hospital once we get to your cruiser and can use the lights.”

Noah looked terribly conflicted, so Peter stepped forward and into his line of sight. He reached out, slowly, and put his hand on Noah’s shoulder.

“Noah, I will not let anything happen to your son.”

Noah looked seconds away from tears, “Please. Peter. He’s all I have left.”

“I know.” Peter wanted to hug him, but it wasn’t the time or place, “He will be alive when you get to the hospital. I promise.”

Peter didn’t wait for Noah’s reply, he hefted Stiles into his arms and carried him bridal style to the start of a rocky running path in the woods. Stiles was looking up at him, his eyes half lidded, and he smiled.

“Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater.”

Peter lost his breath, and it was a miracle that he didn’t drop Stiles right there. No one had called him that since…

“Mariska?” Peter whispered.

Stiles nodded, “I met her. She was there. She said-”

And then Stiles lost consciousness.

 

X

 

Stiles wasn’t sure where he was. The bed felt funny, certainly not like his bed at home, and there was a beeping in his ear that wouldn’t stop. His eyes were heavy and it was a struggle to open them, but when he finally did he was blinded by florescent lighting. He recognized his surroundings almost instantly, he’d spent enough time in Beacon Hills General to become intimately familiar with all their room types.

He tried to sit up, but he was connected to too many cords and wires. He moved his arm and hissed in pain as the bandages on it caught against the scratching blanket. A slight red color was blooming through the white bandages on his right wrist, and he couldn’t remember how he’d ended up with them. He tried to roll over, but only one of his legs would me.

Panic began to set in as Stiles realized he couldn’t feel his other leg. His breathing grew labored, and it felt like the room around him was shaking. It was the worst feeling Stiles had ever felt, worse than any panic attack. The bed was shaking violently, banging against the back of the wall and sounding like it was about to fall apart. Stiles tried to look down at his legs, but the bed was elevated in a way that he couldn’t see anything under the blankets.

The monitors around him began to beep, and the lights overhead started to flicker. The windows were shaking, the glass rattling and threatening to crack. Stiles felt like his entire world was being ripped apart and he didn’t know how to stop it.

The TV that was mounted on the wall shook loose, slamming into the ground with a loud crash. The monitors were screaming now, his heartrate was off the chart.

The door to his room flew open, and Derek and his dad stumbled into the room with looks of terror on their face.

Stiles opened his mouth, but the only sound that came out was a terrified whine. The room kept shaking, and Stiles kept gasping for air, his mouth opening and closing like a fish on dry land. It felt terrible, and everything was hot, and he could only feel one leg, and his wrists were bleeding, and Derek look terrified, and his dad looked terrified _of_ him.

It was all too much, and Stiles just wanted it to stop.

“Stiles.” Derek was standing over him now, his hand in the middle of Stiles’ chest, “Stiles. Focus on me.”

Stiles grabbed Derek’s hand, squeezing it like the lifeline it was.  

“Breath.” Derek said, “Breath with me. One. Two. One. Two. One. Two.”

“My…my…my leg.” Stiles’ voice wobbled, “I…it’s gone. I can’t feel it.”

“No, Stiles, no.” His dad was talking now, standing next to Derek, “It’s broken, but it’s still there.”

His dad pulled the blanket back, and Stiles saw his leg encased in a thick black cast. His toes were sticking out of the bottom of the plaster, and he could see them wiggle when he tried it.

“Leg.” Stiles said, the word sounding funny on his tongue, “Leg.”

“Yeah,” Derek smiled, “Your leg is fine. You’re fine.”

The room stopped shaking almost immediately, the monitors calmed down, and Stiles felt himself start to breathe normally.

“I’m fine.” Stiles repeated, “Is everyone…”

“Yeah,” His dad smiled, “Everyone is fine too, they’re at home safe and sound.”

Melissa busted into the room, she was trailed by a doctor in a thick white coat.

“Stiles!” Melissa gasped, “You’re awake!”

“Mel, hey.” Stiles tried to go for a grin, but he wasn’t sure if his mouth complied.

“He just woke up.” His dad was talking to Melissa and the doctor now, “He had a panic attack, he thought his leg was gone.”

Stiles turned his head away from them, he felt dumb and his cheeks were burning with embarrassment.

Derek walked around to the other side of the bed and sat on the chair next to Stiles’ head. He smiled, and Stiles really wanted to kiss him.

“The first time we leave you in two days and that’s when you choose to wake up.” Derek sighed, “I should have known that would happen.”

Stiles blinked, “Two days?”

He’d been asleep for two whole days and his body still felt like it had been run over my a cement roller. He could already feel fatigue settling in, and he really just wanted to curl up and go back to sleep. But there was there next to him, looking equal parts scared and relieved, and his dad was behind him talking to the doctors. Stiles wanted to be with them.

Derek nodded, “It’s been a long two days.”

“How did I get here?” Stiles asked, the last thing he remembered was  being stuck with Jennifer at the Nemeton.

Derek tipped his head to the side, “Well, Peter almost got arrested because they thought he was the one who hurt you.”

“Seriously?”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Peter ran into the emergency room, shirtless, bloody, and with you in his arms. The security guard drew his gun on him and no one would let him leave until your dad got her to explain what happened.”

“Peter as in, Uncle Peter the crazy guy who I last saw chained in Deaton’s basement?”

Derek clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, “That’s the one.”

“Wow.”

“Yep.”

“So, uh, what _did_ my dad say happened?”

“Obviously not the real story,” Derek whispered, “Your dad put out an APB for you when you went missing, and he made an official report saying you were kidnapped by a crazy woman who kept screaming about the devil. We found you with her in the woods, she’d already hurt you, and we were able to get you to the hospital but she fled into the woods and got away.”

Stiles almost laughed, “Really? That’s the story you went with?”

“It was last minute,” Derek said, “we were all too worried about you to think of anything but a sanitized version of what actually happened. Everyone bought it, by the way, and now there’s a manhunt going on for a crazy homeless woman who doesn’t exist.”

“Our tax dollars at work.”

 Stiles’ eyes started to feel heavy, and it was a struggle just to keep them open to look at Derek. Derek noticed, because he’s Derek, and he pressed the back of his hand against Stiles’ forehead.

“Get some more sleep.” Derek said.

“I’m fine.” Stiles protested, “I just slept for two days.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “And you should probably sleep for two more.”

Stiles took a deep breath and turned his eyes away from Derek before whispering, “I don’t want to wake up alone.”

He couldn’t explain it. But Stiles was terrified of waking up in a room by himself, of opening his eyes to darkness and isolation. The thought alone made his skin crawl and his heart stutter.

“I won’t go anywhere.” Derek said, “I promise I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Derek reached under the blanket and twined his fingers through Stiles’, and Stiles felt the warm euphoria of Derek’s werewolf pain magic. He looked down at the inky black veins on Derek’s arm, then back up at Derek’s smile, and slowly drifted off to sleep again.

 

X

 

The next time Stiles woke up, Derek was the first thing he saw. He was asleep, his head tipped back in the recliner and his mouth parted slightly. He looked…terrible. His hair was greasy, he looked like he was wearing the same clothes Stiles last saw him in, and his usual stubbled had transformed into a full-on beard.

“Derek.” Stiles whispered, his voice raspy.

Derek’s eyes opened immediately, they glowed blue in the dim lighting of the room.

“Stiles.” Derek sounded relieved.

Stiles groaned, “You look like you smell.”

Stiles couldn’t smell much of anything but antiseptic, but Derek had that look to him.

“I haven’t taken a shower in two days, so.”

Stiles’ eyes went wide, “I slept for two days again?”

Derek nodded, “The doctors were about to call in a specialist, no one can figure out why you’re sleeping so much.”

Stiles’ stomach clenched, “Should I be worried?”

“Peter says its normal for someone who used up that much magical energy to sleep for days.” Derek said, “Add your actual injuries to that, it’s not odd that you’d sleep so much.”

“Magical…” Stiles trailed off, “Holy shit.”

He barely remembered it the first time he woke up, but now everything was coming back to him. Flashes of memories, the pain he felt on the Nemeton, the void, the power burning through him.

“Mariska.” Stiles whispered, “Holy shit.”

Derek froze, “Peter said you mentioned her. I thought he was just hearing things.”

Stiles slowly shook his head, “No. She was there…but not really there. Her soul was in the void, and then I was in the void, and she gave me her magic. And then I used her magic to…”

He could remember the feeling of lifting Jennifer’s body off the ground. He remembered the decision he made in his head to…throw her.

“I…I killed her?”

Derek put his hand on top of Stiles’ and started rubbing a small circle into his palm, “We don’t know. We haven’t been able to find her body yet but if she hit the ground at the same speed she was going when you threw her…”

“Then she’s dead.” Stiles said, “And I killed her.”

“She was trying to kill you.” Derek said, “You were defending yourself.”

“I know.” Stiles blinked several times, he said it again like he was trying to convince himself, “I know.”

A silence stretched between them for a moment. Stiles didn’t know what to say, how to express that yes, Jennifer was trying to kill him, but yes, he still felt…something when he thought about possibly killing her. It was one thing to threaten, or to tell someone you’ll kill them if you ever get the chance, but it was another thing to actually do it.

Stiles couldn’t focus on that, not right now. He lifted his free hand and pressed it against the center of his chest, just like Mariska had done in the void. He could feel a warmth that had never been there before, like a small fire was burning inside his sternum.

“I still feel the magic.” Stiles whispered, “I think it’s really a part of me.”

“I know,” Derek said, “I feel it when I touch you.”

“Really?” Stiles asked, “Do…what does it feel like to you?”

Derek sat at the edge of the bed and pulled the covers back. Stiles saw his cast again, and his toes were all still there and wiggling so he focused on Derek’s hand. Derek’s fingers slowly trailed up Stiles’ arm, just above the bandages on his wrist. It was a soothing feeling, and Derek was quiet as his fingers moved.

“It feels…comfortable. It feels like going outside after a rain storm to see what changed.” Derek paused and felt the pulse in his veins, “It feels like it was always a part of you, just that it was hiding under the surface and now it isn’t.”

“It doesn’t feel weird?” Stiles asked, scared that it would make Derek not want to be with him anymore.

Derek shook his head, “No. It doesn’t feel weird.”

Stiles moved to the side, trying to clear as much space for Derek as he could. He patted the empty part of the bed until Derek took the hint and climbed in. Derek’s arm snaked under Stiles’ neck, pulling him in close and pressing their bodies tightly together. Derek kissed the shell of his ear and Stiles felt his entire body shiver.

“Where’s my dad?” Stiles asked.

“At work, he’ll be back in a few hours. I’ll text him and tell him you’re awake and to bring dinner.”

“Yes.” Stiles groaned, “Hospital food is the fucking worst.”

Derek sighed, “Tell me about it. It’s all I’ve eaten for days.”  

Stiles looked up at him, “You can go catch a wild rabbit if you want, I won’t stop you.”

Derek glared at him without any heat before snapping his teeth playfully at Stiles. Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Did I miss anything is important?” Stiles asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Everything is just a little weird.” Derek said honestly, “Laura and Peter have been having lunch together every day this week, Peter and I had a twenty-minute conversation about a book he’d just read when he came by earlier. Nothing makes sense anymore.”

“That’s a lot to unpack.” Stiles said.

Derek nodded, “And I’m not ready to talk about any of it.”

“That’s fair.” Stiles laughed, “What day is it?”

“Thursday.”

That explained why Derek was the only one there. Scott, Allison, Lydia, and Erica must have been at school. He wondered how much time everyone had taken away from their lives while he was in the hospital, and he felt a pang of guilt. Stiles pushed it out of his head though, he couldn’t let himself feel guilty when he knew he’d do the same thing if it was one of them in the hospital.

It was what friends did.

It was what Pack did.

He’d done what Mariska wanted him to. Regardless of how conflicted he felt about it, he’d still protected himself and his pack. It might take him a long time to make peace with it, but Mariska told him it would be hard. Laying there with Derek by his side though, he felt anchored. He knew that Derek would never let him go too far again, that his dad would step in, or Laura, or Scott, or Lydia, or Erica.

He had an entire Pack worth fighting for, and he trusted them to fight for him too.

“What do we do now?” Stiles asked.

Derek hummed, and after a few seconds, “I think we try to be normal.”

Stiles laughed, lifting a finger and concentrating on the edge of the blanket that hung off the side of the bed. It wasn’t perfect, and it took him longer than he would have thought, but eventually he was able to tap into the small hum of magic in his chest. He concentrated even harder, and then the corner of the blanket lifted into the air. He guided it with his finger until it was pulling itself across his and Derek’s shoulders.

Derek watched, wide eyes fascinated as Stiles moved the blanket over them. Stiles looked at him and smiled, pressing a kiss against Derek’s lips and laughing at the way Derek’s new beard scratched against his face.

“I think we’re going to need a new definition for normal.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one. chapter. left. 
> 
> holy shit. i never imagined this would go on for as long as it did, or that you guys would give it as much love as you have, but it makes me so fucking happy. i read every comment and it just makes me smile so much like a crazy person. 
> 
> i've been building up to the moments in this chapter for so long and it feels amazing to finally have been able to write the payoff for this wild idea that's been in my head for almost a year of writing this. it just trips me out when i really think about it. i hope it pays off for you guys the same way it payed off for me!


	35. This Story’s Going Somewhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is it! i had to bring it back to the wonderful one shot that inspired the base of this story almost a year ago with the final chapter title. with this 12k chapter that covers roughly the span of a month you'll find a lot of happy, a teeny bit of angst, and some teases for the future

 

 

 

Chapter 35

This Story’s Going Somewhere

 

 

Going up the stairs in crutches was one of the most difficult things Stiles had ever done, and it was still better than the suggestion that a temporary bedroom be made for him in the living room. Stiles had vehemently denied that suggestion, only able to picture the face his dad would make when he walked down stairs first thing in the morning and saw Derek and Stiles spooning on the pull-out sofa before his first cup of coffee.

“I’m magic, I shouldn’t _have_ to use crutches.” Stiles growled, hoisting himself up onto the final step.

Derek rolled his eyes, “You can’t use that as a reason for everything now.”

Stiles was offended, “I do not!”

Derek just looked at him from the landing at the top of the stairs, “You literally said this morning that you shouldn't have to go back to school because you’re magic.”

“And I still stand by that one.”

Stiles was struggling with one of the final steps, and his hand slipped off the crutch. He was able to balance himself thanks to Laura’s hand on the small of his back, but Derek looked mortified.

“You should just let me carry you up the stairs.”

Stiles shook his head, “As appealing as that sounds, you’re not always going to be here to get me up and down the stairs. I need to get used to it myself.”

“I could be.” Derek said.

“Dude, you’ve been here for almost an entire week, and while I am totally down with the idea of cohabitation I think a little piece of my dad dies every time he sees you walk out of my room shirtless to go take a shower.”

Laura cackled from behind him, “Jeeze, Der.”

Derek blushed, “I hate both of you.”

Laura and Stiles answered in tandem, “No you don’t.”

“Whatever.” Derek grumbled.

Stiles got to the top of the stairs, and Derek’s hands reached out to his shoulders to stabilize him when he started wobbling. He’d been on crutches before, but he never remembered the stairs being this big of a problem.

“I still say you should have let us buy you that nifty motorized chair lift.” Laura was leaning against the bannister.

“No!” Stiles shoved a finger over his shoulder at her, “I swear to god, Laura. If I wake up one morning and there’s one of those on the stairs…”

Laura laughed, “You’ll what?”

Stiles looked over Derek’s shoulder for something soft he could use to prove his point. His bedroom door was cracked, and he saw a sock sitting just inside the door. He stretched his fingers out and concentrated like he’d done the last few times he’d used his magic for something like this. It took a moment, but then he felt a small spark of heat unfurl itself in the center of his chest. It sort of felt like his magic was asleep and he’d just woken it up and now it was yawning and stretching its arms over its heads before getting out of bed.

The power sparked in his fingertips, and Stiles smiled when the sock lifted itself off the ground. It was hard to maintain the concentration as he held onto it, but he was able to pull it closer with the flick of his fingers, and then it flew over his and Derek’s shoulders like it had been shot out of a cannon.

Laura sputtered, growing, and then gagging, “What the fuck?”

Stiles looked over his shoulder and he let out a wicked laugh when he saw the sock draped on top of Laura’s head. Her hands were scrambling, frantically pulling at her hair to try and get the sock out of it.

“That was my final warning.” Stiles laughed.

Laura looked at him, her eyes alpha red, “Stiles, that fucking smells disgusting! Get it off!”

Stiles laughed again, let her suffer for a few seconds longer, and then used his magic to pull the sock out of her hair. It was easier that time, and Stiles had been starting to realize that the more he used his magic the easier it was to call it out and use it at will.

Laura gagged, “I’m going to have to take another shower now to get the smell out. I _will_ get you for this.”

Derek laughed, “Careful, he might throw his boxers at you next time.”

Laura glared at Derek, “I’m sure _you’d_ love that one, wouldn’t you?”

The look of horror and embarrassment on Derek’s face was totally worth the looming threat of Laura’s revenge.

 

X

 

Derek woke at the sound of Stiles’ frantic heart.

Stiles started having nightmares while he was still in the hospital. It seemed like every time he went to sleep after having slept almost four days in a row, he would start having nightmares after a few hours. Sometimes Stiles would wake himself up screaming, but other times he was so deep into the nightmare that even his body couldn’t wake him up.

It was part of the reason Derek was so nervous about leaving Stiles alone when he eventually stopped spending every night at the Stilinski house. The look on Stiles’ face when he woke up from a nightmare naturally was heartbreaking, but he didn’t seem to be as shaken by them if Derek was able to wake him up out of it.

Derek had take to falling asleep with his hand over Stiles’ heart, just so he would be able to feel the difference incase his ears didn’t catch the subtle change.

“Stiles,” Derek said gently, leaning in close to Stiles’ ear, “Stiles, can you wake up for me?”

Stiles was completely silent, but his eyes were moving frantically behind his eyelids. The silent nightmares were the worst, they were the ones that seemed to take more of a toll on Stiles’ mind and body than the ones where he woke up screaming.

Derek shook him gently, “Stiles, wake up for me. Come on.”

A small, desperate whine escaped Stiles lips.

Derek pushed back the covers and reached over to turn on the bedside lamp. Stiles wore one of his hundreds of comic book shirts to bed, so Derek slid his hand under the hem of the Black Widow shirt and gently rested it on the center of Stiles chest. He could feel the intensity of the magic under Stiles’ skin, coiled tightly like a snake. Derek took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and started to draw the pain out of Stiles.

It hurt like almost nothing Derek had ever felt in his life. It wasn’t quite as bad as the time he almost died from wolfsbane poisoning, but it was also an entirely different type of pain. It was like someone injected acid directly into his veins, it burned through his body like fire. He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt this whenever he drained pain from that specific spot since it didn’t happen anywhere else on Stiles’ body, but Peter had a theory that it was the magic in Stiles’ body reacting to what it thought was an attack.

Regardless of what it did to Derek, it didn’t seem to hurt Stiles and it was only of the only ways Derek could get him to wake up during one of his particularly bad nightmares. Stiles couldn’t tell Derek why it woke him, just that it worked.

Stiles woke with a gasp and opened his eyes. The whites of his eyes were shining a dull silver color, which was also something that had started happening sometimes. Peter said it was apparently normal, something that happened to Mariska occasionally, and Derek couldn’t really believe he was in a place in his life that he was asking Peter what was and wasn’t normal.

Derek pulled his hand out from under Stiles’ shirt, skimming the pads of his fingers across Stiles’ skin and drawing goosebumps as he went. Stiles took a minute to collect himself, just staring at the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. His breathing was heavy, and Derek could smell the acrid scent of fear in the air. He leaned over and grabbed a water bottle from the nightstand, uncapped it, and gave it to Stiles. Stiles sat up in bed and downed the entire bottle in seconds.

“Sorry.” Stiles said, apologizing like he always did as he was wiping the excess water from his lips.

Derek looked at him, “You don’t have to apologize.”

“I know,” Stiles rubbed at his eyes, “I still am though.”

Derek’s hand hovered over Stiles in an unspoken question. Stiles nodded, and Derek lowered his hand to Stiles’ head and began to card his fingers through Stiles’ hair. Sometimes Stiles didn’t want to be touched after a nightmare, and Derek had learned to always ask permission before trying to comfort him that way.

Stiles hadn’t talked much about what happened to him before he came back with his magic. The most he’d gotten out of him was when Stiles told him he went somewhere full of darkness. Derek couldn’t imagine something like that, having to go through everything Stiles did that night. It was secretly killing Derek that he didn’t know more, that he didn’t know how to help Stiles because Stiles wouldn’t talk about it with him.

In the two weeks that Stiles had been out of the hospital, Derek would sometimes catch him staring off into space with a vacant look in his eyes. Derek would blink, and then Stiles would be back to his usual self. It happened like that a lot, and Derek was beginning to think that the frequency and the intensity of the nightmares were growing because Stiles was keeping everything bottled inside.

Derek was the foremost expert on keeping things bottled inside, and he knew better than anyone how destructive that could be.

“You want to talk about it?” Derek asked, because he never didn’t ask. Even if Stiles said no, he wanted him to know that he cared.

“It was dark.” Stiles said, his voice so soft Derek wouldn’t have heard it if it weren’t for his enhanced hearing, “I…I was alone, but I wasn’t _alone_. There were voices again, a lot of them, and they all knew my name. They were saying terrible things…”

“It’s not real.” Derek said softly, “It was just a nightmare.”

Stiles shook his head, “No. That’s the thing. It is real, Derek. The darkness, the voices. I’ve been there.”

Derek didn’t know what to say. He pulled Stiles close, wrapping his arms around him and holding his as tightly as he could.

“I want to talk to Peter.” Stiles said suddenly.

“OK.” Derek kept his voce carefully neutral.

“I…” stiles trailed off, “Before she disappeared, Mariska said he could help me.”

Derek swallowed the lump in his throat, “That makes sense, I guess.”

“You’re upset.” Stiles said, and it wasn’t a question.

“No.” Derek said, too quickly.

Stiles deflated, “I’m sorry.”

Derek closed his eyes and tried to fight back the warring feelings inside of him. His relationship with Peter was rocky to say the least, though it seemed like everyone had been trying to repair things on their respective ends. He felt hypocritical for having the nerve to feel jealous about Stiles talking to Peter about this when he went to Peter with questions about Stiles’ magic. Hypocritical for being Jealous that Stiles wanted to talk to Peter when all Derek wanted was for Stiles to talk about things with someone.

“No, fuck, I’m sorry.” Derek said, “Talk to him. Please. You need to talk to someone, I just want you to know that you can talk to me about anything.”

“I know I can.” Stiles said, his breath tickling Derek’s bare chest, “It’s just hard to talk about it, and I don’t even know what to say half the time.”

Derek kissed the crown of Stiles’ head, “I hate that this has been so hard for you.”

Stiles was quiet for a minute, and then he held up his hand in the dim light of the room, “It’s not all bad.”

Derek watched as the cap of the water bottle floated up into view. Stiles wiggled his fingers and the cap started spinning in the air, swooping around in circles like a fighter plane. Stiles flicked his fingers one last time and it shot across the room, hitting the wall and ricocheting into the trash can.

“Very impressive.” Derek laughed.

Stiles hummed, “Though I am starting to wonder if there’s anymore to this than just lifting things up and making them float around in the air. Not that I mind, I’m just starting to feel a little more Emma Frost than Harry Potter.”

“Jean Grey.” Derek corrected him.

“What?” Stiles leaned up on one arm and looked at Derek with an eyebrow raised.

“Emma is a telepath, but she isn’t telekinetic.” Derek said simply, “Jean is telekinetic.”

Stiles mouth was parted slightly, “Dude.”

“What?”

“You just tried to school me on X-Men knowledge.”

“I didn’t try, I did school you.”

Stiles glared at him, and then let out an angry huff and flopped back down onto the bed.

“Whatever.”

Derek settled down back into the bed, draping his arm around Stiles’ shoulder. He drew lazy circles in Stiles’ skin until he felt him falling back to sleep. He reached over and turned off the light.

“I’ll call Peter for you tomorrow.” Derek said into the darkness.

Stiles pressed himself as close to Derek as the cast on his leg would let him, “Thank you.”

Derek kissed him as he closed his eyes, and then rested his hand on Stiles’ chest. He drifted back to sleep with the echo of Stiles’ calm heartbeat thumping in his ears.

 

X

 

Stiles had just finished settling himself down onto the couch, finding a comfortable position after minutes of trying to maneuver the block of cement on his leg otherwise known as a cast, when the doorbell rang. Stiles groaned, looking up at the ceiling and wondering what he did to deserve such a cruel fate. His crutches were leaning against the far side of the couch, and the soft cushions felt so good against his sore back that he just gave up and dropped his head backwards.

“Come in!” Stiles yelled, “Unless you’re a murderer. Then don’t…y’know…come in.”

Stiles heard the door open, then close, and then lock. He listened as heavy footsteps came from behind him, and he tipped his head backwards to get an upside-down view of Peter Hale standing in the archway of his living room.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that last part.”

Stiles huffed out a laugh, “Whatever, dude. As long as you’re not here to kill me then I’m fine with whatever.”

“Seeing as how it would be rather rude to kill the person who asked to speak with me, I suppose I shall let you live for now.” Peter hummed.

Peter walked through the living room, trailing his fingers over almost everything he could touch. He paused at the picture of Stiles’ dad and mom on their wedding day and smiled briefly before turning back to Stiles and dropping into the armchair that sat diagonal from him.

“Derek didn’t elaborate.” Peter said, stretching his legs out, “He just said you had some things you’d like to ask me?”

Stiles wasn’t entirely sure how to go about having this conversation. He didn’t really know Peter, certainly not enough to casually talk about meeting his dead wife in a void of reality filled with demons and dark magic. But then again, Peter had literally saved his life and almost got shot by running shirtless into an ER with a bloody teenager in his arms so maybe they were past the point of causal acquaintanceship.

“It’s about Mariska.” Stiles ripped the Band-Aid off.

“Ah.” Peter said, his face was carefully blank, “I’ve been waiting to talk to you about that.”

“You have?” Stiles asked, “You could have just…asked?”

Peter laughed, “I don’t think so. Derek threated to, and I quote, _rip my ears off and feed them to me_ if I tried talking to you about this without you bringing it up first.

“That sounds like something he would say.” Stiles sighed and shook his head.

“He’s very protective of you.” Peter smiled knowingly, “Anyway, about Mariska?”

“Right.” Stiles took a deep breath, “So. I saw her.”

Peter nodded, “I gathered as much. Can you explain how that’s possible?”

“We were in a place she called the void. She said she brought me there, and that she had been there since she died.”

Stiles watched as a complicated range of emotions flashed across Peter’s face too quickly for Stiles to name each one.

“Stubborn woman.” Peter eventually said, “I kept telling her not to mess around with that place.”

“So you know about it?” Stiles asked, “You know what it is?”

Peter nodded, “I know what she told me about it, namely that it is not a nice place where you want to spend your summers.”

Stiles closed his eyes and opened them just as quickly as his mind supplied the memories of a dark world full of demons all staring at him.

“It’s not.” Stiles whispered.

“Before we go any further, I’d like to know if you there there’s a possibly that Mariska isn’t gone for good.” Peter said.

Stiles shook his head, “I’m sorry. She made it very clear that there was no way for her to come back. She wanted me to make it clear too, she didn’t want to give anyone false hope. She’s really dead.”

Peter’s fists clenched and then relaxed, “OK. Thank you.”

Stiles waited another minute before speaking, “I’ve been having nightmares. When I go to sleep I either dream of the Nemeton or the void. It’s like I can’t escape it. Sometimes I wake up, but other times it’s like something is keeping me trapped inside the nightmare and I can’t get out of it.”

“It’s normal.” Peter said, “Mariska struggled with it as well. She spent far too much time messing with that terrible place in the last few years of her life. Before though, when she’d only accessed it once or twice, she felt the same way. She described it as always feeling seen, like you know there’s something out there that’s constantly watching you.”

Stiles mouth was dry, “Yeah.”

“She never slept well, but she made tea with a special blend of valerian and other herbs that seemed to quell the nightmares. They still happened, but they were never quite as frequent. I still remember it as I was the one who normally went out and sourced the ingredients for her, if you give me a few days I can gather what you need for it.”

“Seriously?” Stiles felt an intense weight lift from his shoulders.

Peter cracked a small smile, “Yes, Stiles. Don’t look so surprised.”

Stiles remembered Mariska’s words.

_“Peter can help you, if you let him.”_

“She gave me her magic.” Stiles said softly.

Peter’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, “Her magic?”

Stiles nodded, “Or her soul. I’m not sure how it works. She just said she wanted to help me and help everyone else in the pack. She told me to take her magic and use it to do what she would have spent the rest of her life doing.”

Peter’s hand reached out, but he stopped and pulled it back about halfway between him and Stiles. Stiles somehow knew what Peter wanted. He took a deep breath and undid the first button of his shirt. Peter caught his eye and Stiles nodded. Peter reached out again, stopping just before his fingers touched Stiles’ chest. A second later, he delicately placed the palm of his hand in the center of Stiles’ chest. It only lingered there for a second before Peter pulled his hand away and sat back in the chair.

“It doesn’t feel like hers.” Peter said, “Her magic was cold to the touch, and yours is like a warm fire.”

“Oh.” Stiles buttoned up his shirt, “She said it wasn’t like she was going to be living inside of me or something. I guess it’s more of an inheritance than anything else I was thinking.”

“Right. That was sufficiently awkward.” Peter rubbed his hands along the arms of the chair.

“A little.” Stiles laughed.

Peter looked at him again, more serious this time, “Regardless, Mariska trusted you with her power, and I can tell that Derek and Laura care very deeply for you. I’ll gladly help you adjust to these new powers in any way that I can. I’m afraid I can’t provide much more than my knowledge in the way of training, but Mariska kept a selection of books outside of the house. They should still be where she kept them, if you’d like them.”

“Seriously?” Stiles asked, “Like…grimoires?”

Peter laughed, “Not in the way that you’re thinking. They are books on the theory and practice of magic, spell craft, and things of that nature. I wouldn’t exactly call any of them a book of shadows, but I think you’ll at least fight them interesting.”

“That would be amazing.” Stiles smiled, “Seriously, like, super awesome. Thank you.”

Peter stood from the chair and nodded his head, “It will take me a few days to round everything up, but I’ll get the books and the ingredients to help with your sleep to you as quickly as I can.”

“Hey.” Stiles turned and called out just before Peter opened the door.

Peter looked at him, “Yes?”

“The last thing Mariska told me was that Derek and Laura weren’t the only Hale’s still alive,” Stiles paused for a second, “I think she wanted to make sure we didn’t forget about you. So, you know, I’m glad you’re here.”

Peter didn’t say much more in the way of goodbye, and a range of emotions flickered across his face again, but Stiles couldn’t help but feel like he’d just solved a few of his problems.

 

X

 

Laura looked at Derek across the both from her and jabbed her fork at him, “You’re not eating.”

They were in the same diner they’d eaten in months ago the morning after Laura had originally been arrested after she came back to Beacon Hills. Their circumstances were better now, but Derek looked just as moody as ever.

Derek, in typical Derek fashion, angrily speared a hash brown with his knife and ate it, “Happy?”

“I know you’re not into the whole Stiles and Peter speeding time together thing but try not to let it bother you so much. You and Peter have been getting along, right?”

Everyone had been getting along with Peter. It was weird, honestly, but Laura liked the feeling of having him around after being without him for so many years. God knew they had their problems with each other, but they’d slowly been working on finding their way back to being a family and Laura was happy to take the time to try and fix some of the mistakes she made years ago.

Derek and Peter hadn’t spent as much time together, and admittedly a lot of that time they had spent together ended with them arguing, but Laura could see Derek softening to the idea of Peter. A lot of it probably had to do with how much Peter had helped with Stiles since the night he was taken by Jennifer and beyond. Laura understood the hang ups Derek had when it came to Peter and someone he cared about, and she knew that Derek was trying his best, but he hated being away from Stiles while he was with Peter.

Derek’s angry face softened a bit, “We have.”

“It’s good that Stiles is talking to someone.” Laura smiled, “I know you want it to be you, but we both know how hard it is to talk to someone you really care about when there’s something wrong with you.”

It was an all too familiar statement, and the look on Derek’s face said he knew exactly what she meant.

“There’s a sort of…detachment there with Peter for him, right?” Laura asked, “He knows of Peter, and he knows that he can trust Peter for the most part, but they haven’t really formed any kind of relationship. It might be easier for him to talk about the things he feels like he doesn’t want to burden us with even though we both know it wouldn’t be a burden.”

“I know.” Derek sighed, “If Peter can help then I’ll get over it.”

“Good.” Laura grinned, “So, I’ve been thinking…”

“Oh no.” Derek groaned.

Laura rolled her eyes, “I want to put the apartment on New York up for sale.”

“OK.” Derek said casually.

“I still have some friends in the city who wouldn’t mind boxing our things up and sending them here.” Laura said, “If you’re fine with having other people mess with your stuff. I’m tired of seeing the same ten shirts you’ve had since you got here.”

“They’re good shirts.”

Laura took a few more bites of her waffle, watching Derek as she ate. The Derek sitting in front of her was a far cry from the Derek that sat in front of her a few months ago. That Derek was crawling out of his skin, desperate to get out of Beacon Hills. The idea of selling their apartment in New York would have made that Derek rip the table out of the booth and throw it through the window.

Regardless of the reason that brought them back to Beacon Hills, and all that they’d been through since coming back, Laura couldn’t help but think their life was the best it’s ever been since the fire. Her brother was finally happy again and going through life without a cross on his back. She felt freer than she had in a long time with the open air and woods surrounding her instead of concrete and skyscrapers.

They both had an actual pack, they had people they cared about, people they wanted to fight for other than just each other.

Derek looked up and caught her staring at him, “What?”

“Nothing.” Laura cleared her throat, “I was just thinking about how good it felt to be home.”

Derek smiled, nodded, and reached over and stole the rest of the waffle from her plate.

 

X

 

Peter walked down an empty street through an unfamiliar neighborhood.

It was something he did now, just walking. After spending the better part of five years magically comatose and bound to a hospital bed he realized things he took for granted before the fire. One of them was walking. He’d probably walked the length of Beacon Hills twice now in the few weeks he’d been back among the world of the living.

Well, he technically wasn’t back. He was technically Paul Hale, Peter Hale’s mysteriously absentee twin brother. It was something Mariska had done years ago. She’d created Paul one night when she was bored and on bed rest, hacking into the Social Security Administration and creating a living, breathing fake person just for the hell of it.

She did things like that sometimes, things that showed she was gifted in other ways than just magic. Peter loved that about her.  Peter still loved so many things about her, and it killed him to think about them.

Still, he let himself think about Mariska more than he thought about Joshua. Maybe it was cruel, but it was the only way that Peter could make it through a day without ripping his heart out. Mariska was a grown woman, she knew the risks she was facing, but Joshua was just a boy. A sweet, perfect, wonderful human boy who was born into a family that was hated for no reason. And he suffered for it.

If Peter let himself think about Joshua more than once a day, it broke him.

Peter did not like to be broken.

He walked through the empty streets of one of the only neighborhoods he hadn’t been through. He had a stone with him that he’d been kicking for the last seven miles, a silent game he played with himself to see how long it would last before he lost track of it. He kicked the rock again, but lost track of it when something else drew his attention.

The sound of someone crying.

Normally, Peter would ignore the sound. If it wasn’t someone he cared for then it wasn’t his problem. But something made Peter stop this time. Maybe it was the fact that the voice sounded so fragile and broken, or maybe it was that the sound of crying was accompanied by the sound of clinking chains of metal.

He followed his ear, winding through strange backyards until he was spit out on the next street over. The sound was coming from a modestly sized house in a neighborhood filled with McMansions, a slightly overgrown lawn setting it further apart from the homes around it. The sound was coming from behind a rusted garage door. Peter walked up to the house, pausing next to the mailbox and cocking his head to the side as he read the name printed in peeling letters across the side.

_Lahey._

Now there was a name Peter hadn’t heard in a while.

“Dad,” the crying voice said from inside the garage, “Dad, please. I’m sorry.”

Peter heard banging, followed by the sound of more tears. Curiosity got the better of him and he walked up the driveway, sliding his fingers under the lip of the garage door and using just enough strength to break it from the track. He lifted it slightly, just far enough so he could slip under it, and then silently lowered it back to the ground.

The garage was empty, save for an old pickup truck and an industrial freezer. Peter’s eyes fell on the freezer instantly. He saw the padlock and the chains looping through it to keep it in place. He saw the way the top of the freezer moved in tandem with the thumping sound coming from inside. He could smell the alcohol in the air, mixed with just a hint of freshly drawn blood.

Peter walked over to the freezer, grasped the cold padlock in his hands, and ripped it off in one motion. The sound from inside the freezer stopped. Peter unlooped the chains from the freezer and dropped them onto the cold ground of the garage before slowly opening the lid.

Peter knew what he was going to find inside, but he still wasn’t ready.

It was a boy, he couldn’t be older than 16. His curly hair was tangled and matted to his forehead, and the hands that rose to protect the back of his head were bloody and raw. Peter looked at the inside of the freezer lid and felt rage burn inside him at the sight of the bloody fingerprints.

“Dad?” The boy looked up, and Peter felt his entire world tip sideways.

The boy that looked up at him might as well have been Joshua. It wasn’t, Peter knew that instinctively, but he looked so much like him. Or at least what Peter thought Joshua might have looked like that that age.

 His round face, his bright eyes, sharp cheekbones.

Venus as a boy. It was what Mariska used to call Joshua, and Peter could see that reflected on the boy in the freezer.

 Small, human, and undeservedly broken.

“Who are you?” The boy whispered.

Peter blinked at him, “Who are you?”

“Isaac.” The boy, Isaac, said.

“Isaac.” Peter took a step backwards, “Did your father do this to you?”

Isaac wouldn’t look at Peter, “You shouldn’t be here. If he finds you…”

“ _You_ shouldn’t be here.” Peter said, “Is your father Frank Lahey?”

Isaac’s eyes snapped to him, “You know my dad?”

Peter remembered Frank Lahey perfectly. They were in the same graduating class, and Peter had always hated him. Frank Lahey was a nothing, a nobody, someone who used his size to intimidate and prey on other people to combat his own inadequacies. Peter was unsurprised to see that nothing had changed.

Peter let his eyes turn blue as he looked at Isaac. Isaac didn’t flinch away, but Peter could hear the uptick in his heartbeat.

“Do you want your father to stop hurting you, Isaac?”

Isaac’s heart went into overdrive, and Peter could smell the panic flowing out of him.

“He won’t.” Isaac shook his head rapidly, “He won’t stop.”

Peter smiled, “He will if I make him.”

Peter shifted fully, standing in front of Isaac with his teeth and claws bared. Isaac still didn’t flinch away.

“What are you?” Isaac whispered.

Peter didn’t answer, instead he asked, “Are you scared of me?”

“No.” Isaac said immediately.

It wasn’t a lie.  

“Do you want your father to stop hurting you?”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t a lie.

“Do you understand what I’m asking you?”

Peter had to be sure.

“Yes.”

It wasn’t a lie.

Peter nodded, “Stay here.”

Isaac didn’t move.

Peter opened the side door and walked into the Lahey house. The entire house had a feeling of sadness, of trauma. Peter hated it.

He found Frank Lahey sitting in a worn recliner in front of the TV. He was wearing stained boxers and sitting next to a table with stacks of beer cans on it. Peter could smell the alcohol seeping through his pores from the next room over.

“Frank.”

Frank Lahey looked up, confusion flickering across his face, and then anger.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Peter stepped out of the shadows, and anger was immediately replaced by fear. Good. Frank should be afraid of him. He had every reason to be.

“What the fuck are you?”

Frank got up from the chair, stumbling and knocking over his tower of beer cans. He stumbled again, clearly drunk, as he ran for the stairs.

“You made me a promise a long time ago, Frank.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Frank tripped on the third step as he tried scrambling upstairs.

Peter continued his slow and steady walk, “I met your son.”

Frank’s eyes went wide.

“You didn’t keep your promise.”

Frank was at the top of the stairs now, and Peter quickly flew up to meet him. Frank let out a terrified shriek, and it was all Peter could do to keep from laughing when the acrid smell of urine hit his nose.

He’d scared the piss out of Frank Lahey.

Peter grinned as he grabbed Frank by the collar of his shirt. Frank uselessly tried to pull at Peter’s arm, but Peter batted his hands away and Frank didn’t try again. He pulled Frank forward, spinning them both until Frank’s back was to the stairs. Peter released his hold on the shirt and turned Frank around again so that his face was now to the stairs.

Peter leaned forward and whispered in Frank’s ear, “This is for your son.”

He placed his index finger in the middle of Frank’s back, right between his shoulder blades, and pushed with the most minimal amount of effort he could. Frank fell forward with a shout, and as he hit the first step his body crumpled. Peter watched with a smile as Frank Lahey tumbled head of heels down his set of rickety stairs. He hit the bottom floor at just the perfect angle to break his neck, exactly how Peter wanted him to.

Peter walked down the stairs, keeping his fingers away from anywhere that could leave a print. It would look like a simple accident, but Peter couldn’t be too careful now that he was supposedly dead. He didn’t give Frank Lahey’s body a second look as he walked by, he was satisfied enough by the fact that there was no heartbeat to hear.

Isaac was still in the freezer, exactly where Peter had left him. He shifted back and walked over to Isaac. Isaac looked up at him with a question in his eyes. Peter nodded, and Isaac let out a relived breath of air.

There were tears in Isaac’s eyes though, and Peter didn’t want to dwell on those.

“How old are you?” Peter asked.

“I just turned 16 yesterday.” Isaac said.

Anger flared in Peter again, and then it wasn’t enough that Frank Lahey was laying dead on his living room floor. But there was nothing Peter could do to change that.

Peter pulled out his wallet and then handed a business card to Isaac.

“This is the number to the best attorney in California. He’ll be waiting for your call.” Peter said, “Give him your name and tell him you’re calling about emancipation. The foster system is a fucked up place and you do not belong in it.”

Tears were falling down Isaac’s face now, “But I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Peter gently took the card back from Isaac and pulled a pen out of his pocket. What he was about to do was reckless, but that was the only thing Peter could ever count on himself to be.

He wrote down his phone number.

“I’m leaving town tonight, but I’ll be back in a few days.” Peter said, “You can call me if you still don’t have anywhere to go.”

Isaac nodded, and Peter turned his back and started walking towards the door.

“What’s your name?” Isaac asked.

“Peter.” Peter said.

“Peter.” Isaac repeated, “Thank you.”

Peter didn’t reply.

Once he was back on the street he ran. He broke into the woods, and he ran. He outran the thoughts of Mariska, of Joshua, and didn’t stop running until his body wouldn’t let him continue anymore. It was an hour later when he finally came to a stop, and he sat on the biggest rock he could find as he aimlessly wound his way through the woods.

He pulled out his phone and checked the time. He was less surprised to see that it was almost 4am than he should have been. He pulled up his contact list and scrolled through until he found the name of a person he probably shouldn’t call. His finger hovered over the name for a brief second, but Peter had already caused so much destruction tonight that this wouldn’t even be a drop in the bucket.

The call connected a few minutes later.

“Hello?” The voice on the other end of the line was sleep rumbled, an equal mix of annoyance and confusion coloring their voice.

“Noah.” Peter said.

Peter heard bed springs protesting on the other end of the line, “Who is this?”

Peter laughed, “Come now, Noah.”

“Peter.” Noah sighed, “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

Peter ignored the question, “You were a senior when I was a sophomore weren’t you?”

Peter asked the question like he didn’t know the answer. As if he hadn’t spent some odd amount of years being keenly aware of Noah Stilinski.

“You called me at four in the morning to ask me something you could have found out from a yearbook?” Noah’s voice grew more annoyed with each word.

“Do you remember my little…incident with Frank Lahey?” Peter asked.

Noah actually laughed at that, “Jesus, Peter. I haven’t thought about that in literal decades.”

“That’s a yes then?”

“You don’t just forget a 15-year-old kid picking up a desk chair with one hand and whacking a kid twice his size across the head with it.” Noah clicked his bedside lamp on, “You know, the whole werewolf thing takes a lot of the amazement out of it in retrospect.”

“I got tired of him preying on people weaker than him. I had to show him his place.” Peter’s voice was low, “I made him promise he’d never hurt anyone else again.”

“I’m assuming you didn’t wake me up to reminisce?” Noah asked, “What is it, Peter?”

Peter tipped his head up and looked at the moon, “Frank broke his promise, and I was very clear about what would happen if he ever did that.”

“Peter?” Noah sounded awake and alert now, “Peter…what did you do?”

Peter didn’t answer.

“ _Peter_.”  

Peter hung up the phone and kept running.

 

X

 

“Scotty,” Stiles asked while absently hanging his head off the bed, “hand me those notecards.”

Scott looked up from his textbook, blinking like it was the first time he’d seen the sun in a week. His eyes were groggy and unfocused, which was something that normally happened when he was trying (and failing) to study for Econ.

“What?” Scott asked.

Stiles sat up and pointed to the stack of notecards behind Scott’s back, “The notecards behind you. I want to try something.”

Scott reached back with one arm and flopped his hand around until it came into contact with the pile of notecards. He knocked the neatly arranged stack over, which Stiles would make him clean later, and managed to grab a few out of the rubble. Scott then threw the cards like a frisbee and it narrowly missed hitting Stiles in the eye. Scott was lucky, because Stiles didn’t know how well he’d cope with being temporarily blind in addition to his leg.

He rolled over onto his stomach and opened the only book about magic Scott was able to weasel out of Deaton. It was a simple book featuring small things for beginners, Stiles had taken to calling it Magic for Dummies. He flipped it open to the section on basic runes and popped the cap on his sharpie. Stiles wasn’t sure if you could do magic with a sharpie, but by god he was going to try. He studied the rune for light, which was the simplest one in the book, and committed the design to memory. It was nothing too hard, just a collection of swooping lines and some squiggles.

The book said the caster needed to concentrate when creating the rune, to let their magic flow through their body, into their instrument, and onto the surface they were writing on. He tuned out the world around him, the sound of the A/C blasting, Scott’s humming and occasional pained groans, and he felt his magic uncoil in his chest. He’d been trying to do small things with it a few times a day after he’d realized that things came easier the more he used his magic, so it didn’t take long for him to feel it come to the surface.

Stiles drew out the rune on the center of the paper, concentrating on perfecting the design while focusing on drawing his magic out. It took him a few seconds to get it down perfectly, but he eventually capped the sharpie and looked at the gleaming black drawing on the card.

“Turn off the light.” Stiles looked over at Scott.

“What? Why?” Scott asked, “We’re supposed to be studying!”

Stiles sighed, “Dude, c’mon. I want to try something.”

Scott looked at him for a few more seconds, and then finally shrugged and got up to turn off the light. When he flicked the switch the room fell into darkness, Stiles clenched his fists and warded off thoughts of the void. He knew there was nothing hiding in the dark corners of his room, but he still couldn’t shake the creeping feeling of being watched.

“What are you trying to do?” Scott asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.

“This.”

Stiles held up the notecard in his hand, placed his palm over it, and let his magic flow into the paper. When he pulled his hand back, a dull golden light was shining from the design on the paper. The black lines of the sharpie had been completely taken over by a glowing golden light.

“Holy shit!” Scott yelped, “Dude!”

Stiles could see Scott’s grin by the light of the rune. They hadn’t really had much bro time together lately. Between Stiles’ hospital stay and bed rest, his recovery, and the both of them spending time with Allison and Derek respectively, they’d missed a lot of quality time together.

“We should do something this weekend.” Stiles said.

“Like what?” Scott asked, looking down at the cast on Stiles’ leg.

“We can run a marathon.” Stiles deadpanned, “I don’t know, just have a Scott and Stiles night. No one else, just me and you eating shitty food and playing shitty videogames.”

“Yeah?” Scott smiled, “You think you can be away from Derek for that long?”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Oh please, I’d last way longer without talking to Derek than you could go without talking to Allison.”

“Not true!” Scott protested.

Stiles laughed, “Totally true.”

“I guess we’ll just have to find out this weekend.” Scott jutted his jaw out defiantly.

“Oh yeah? Let’s make it a bet then. Loser buys the pizza.”

Scott looked at him, grinned, and then shook his hand.

“Deal.”

 

X

 

Allison looked at the black dress laid out across her bed. It stood in stark contrast to the crisp white sheets, and she felt her stomach sink every time she looked at it. The plunging neckline, the way Allison could tell it would hug her hips once she slipped it on. She didn’t have a Little Black Dress for a reason, and she certainly didn’t want to wear one for this occasion.

She jumped at the sound of a knock on her doorframe. Her heart hammering out of her chest, she turned and saw her dad leaning against the wall with his eyes focused on the dress. He raised both his eyebrows and looked back at her.

“That’s your dress for Kate’s funeral?”

Allison shook her head, “No. Mom picked it out at the mall, but I don’t think I’m going to wear it.”

Her dad nodded, “I’ll see if she still has the receipt.”

Allison let out a sigh of relief and sat back onto the bed. Her dad walked in the room and pulled out the chair at her desk, dropping down into it and running his hands along the rough wood before turning and looking at her.

“How are you doing?”

It had been about a month since she killed Kate and they’d just gotten the body back from the police. The investigation was officially over, and they’d decided they didn’t need to hold the body from the family anymore. Kate’s death had officially been ruled a suicide, the note, the angle of the shot, and the gunpowder residue on Kate’s hands had made that an open and shut decision. Kate Argent was found guilty post-mortem, and the truth of her death died with her.

Her funeral was next week.

“I’m good.” Allison said, “How are you?”

Her dad let out a long breath of air, “I don’t know.”

They hadn’t talked about it. Any of it. Kate’s crimes, her suicide, nothing. It was quickly becoming the dark and unspoken family secret. The only time Allison heard anyone mention is was when she’d overheard her parents fighting about the ethics of what Kate did. Her dad was against Kate’s actions, especially with it came to the humans she’d killed. Her mom on the other hand seemed to turn a blind eye to the humans that were killed in Kate’s quest to cover up the truth, and she agreed with Kate’s actions in killing the Hale family.

Allison hadn’t been able to look at her mother since that day.

She wondered what her mother would think if she knew the truth about Scott.

She wondered what her mother would think if she knew that Allison was the one that killed Kate.

Her dad stood from the desk, “I just got off the phone with your grandfather, he’s going to be flying in for the funeral after all.”

“Oh.” Allison said, it was just another person she needed to lie to, “It’ll be nice to see him.”

He nodded and walked out of her room.

Allison looked at the space where her dad stood only a few seconds earlier and wondered if she should be feeling guilty. Was there something wrong with her because she wasn’t feeling the oppressive weight of her conscience? She’d killed three people in the last month, and one of them was her own flesh and blood, but she didn’t feel anything other than a sense of justice.

Was that what Kate felt when she killed the Hale family?

“Oh,” Her dad’s head popped around the corner again, drawing her out of her thoughts, “do you remember a few weeks ago when that group of hunters came through town?”

Allison didn’t startle, but it was a close thing, “Uh, yeah. I think?”

“You didn’t happen to see or talk to them, did you?”

His tone wasn’t accusatory, and his body language was relaxed. It was just a genuine question.

“No, I never saw anyone.” Allison shook her head, “Why?”

Her dad shrugged, “Gerard asked if I knew anything about a small group who travelled through Beacon Hills. I guess they were friends of his and he hasn’t gotten word from them in a few weeks, he just asked if I’d heard anything.”

“Oh.” Allison frowned, “I hope nothing happened to them on a hunt.”

“I told him that’s probably what happened. Gerard swears they were smarter than to let a few Omegas take them out, but we both know that’s the nature of the business. Anything that can go wrong will.”

Allison was beginning to learn that the hard way.

 

X

 

Lydia rubbed the bruise on her shoulder that she’d gotten from training earlier in the day. Stiles had the bright idea of throwing things at her to see what she could block or break apart by using her scream. Lydia privately thought that Stiles was using it to entertain himself because he was tired of not being able to walk independently, so she went along with it.

She should have known there was going to be a problem when Stiles struggled to pick up a tree branch and throw it at her using his magic. She’d successfully blocked or broken apart smaller sticks and stones, but the branch was the size of Stiles’ leg and when he did eventually get it lifted and thrown at her, Lydia panicked and only ended up breaking half of it. The other half continued and hit her square in the shoulder, knocked her on her ass, and gave her a nasty bruise.

It was almost worth it to see Laura yell at Stiles for being reckless.

The bruise would fade though, and it would fade faster than bruises used to for Lydia. She first noticed after Stiles was saved from the Nemeton. She woke up the morning after to find a bruise along her entire back courtesy of Jennifer throwing her into a tree. A bruise that size should have taken at least a week to fade, but when Lydia woke up two days later it was completely gone.

She added it to her list of weird things that had happened to her since becoming a banshee. The list so far included sensing death, hearing voices, her scream, the way her eyes flickered an unnatural green every so often, and now her mysteriously healing bruises.

She kept track of everything in her hidden notebook and nothing was too small or insignificant. Lydia still didn’t know what was happening to her, but documenting things as they happened gave her a level of control she would otherwise lack.

It seemed like everything kept changing.

Jackson was gone. She was a banshee. Stiles was magic. Allison was stone cold killer. They were all part of a pack of werewolves.

Lydia never would have imagined her year going like this. She was so used to the status quo that she never would have thought of disrupting it. She couldn’t say for sure which life she liked better, all that she knew was they she felt more like herself than she ever had before.

She walked to the mirror and tried to ignore the bags under her eyes. She was beyond tired, and she decided to forgo studying in exchange for a few more hours of sleep. She looked in the mirror one last time, ran her fingers through her hair, and then froze.

In between her fingers was a shock of pure white strands hair. It stood out in stark contrast to her violently red hair and Lydia separated the strands until the white locks where the only things plainly visible. She followed the hair up to her scalp, and it was white all the way to the root.

Lydia pulled her hands from her hair, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She turned away from the mirror, opened her eyes, and pulled out her notebook. At the bottom of the page, just below the line about her rapidly healing bruises, she wrote an entry about her sudden change in hair color. She closed the notebook and sat down at her laptop and got started on researching the best at home hair dye brands to find the one that would look the most natural.

 

X

 

Erica leaned back and tipped her head up towards the sun. Stiles was next to her, his leg elevated and taking up the rest of the bench so Scott couldn’t sit. Erica laughed every time she saw Scott angrily glaring at Stiles’ beat up cast.

The rest of the students moved around them, and the Erica of a few months ago would have been too anxious to be this out in the open. To be as exposed as she was. The old Erica would have been sitting there uncomfortably wondering what everyone else was saying about her, wondering when someone was going to come up and taunt her for daring to act like a normal person instead of the freak they saw her as.

But the new Erica? The new Erica didn’t give a fuck.

Erica had friends now. Honest to god friends, people who she could trust and who she counted on, people who counted on her. She gained a new family in a way, a new family who accepted her for all her faults and differences. She was friends with witches, and banshees, and werewolves, and a teenage girl who could take down a grown man three times her size. And even with all their differences, even if all of them were some fantastical creatures, they’d taught her that she was special too, that she mattered, and Erica would never be able to thank them enough.

How could Erica ever care about what the terrible kids who work at McDonalds thought of her when those were her friends?

Erica’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out and read the text from her mom. She stood up from the bench and Scott immediately took her spot, Erica rolled her eyes as she pulled her bag over her shoulder.

“My mom parked at the front of the school for some reason,” Erica shook her head, “I’ll text you guys tonight about Sunday?”

Stiles held up a hand for a hi-five, which Erica supplied, “Right on.”

Erica maneuvered herself through the throngs of students, dodging elbows and stray backpacks as she made her way to the front of the school. She wasn’t paying attention when she rounded the corner though, and she collided with something very hard. It wasn’t a wall, since it had some give to it, and when Erica looked up she was horrified.

“Oh my god,” Erica rushed out, “I’m so sorry.”

The boy she’d just run into was just looking at her with both eyebrows raised. He was tall, like, impossibly tall. And also beautiful. Erica was pretty sure she was in love. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks the longer the boy just stood there staring at her, and she almost died on the spot when the flat line of his mouth turned up into a slight smile.

“It’s fine.” The boy said with a deep voice, “It’s an interesting way to end my first day.”

That explains why Erica had never seen him before.

Erica self-consciously ran a hand through her hair, “Well, I guess you can say you’ve met the official Beacon Hills High welcoming party.”

“Is that your official title?” He asked her.

Erica groaned, “God no. If I was the welcoming party I’d start by screaming at you to run while you still can.”

“I like your optimism.”

Erica laughed, “I’m Erica. In case you were wondering.”

“I was.” He said, “My name is Boyd.”

“Boyd.” Erica liked how that sounded.

“Erica.” Boyd said, and then nodded to her phone that had fallen on the ground, “Your phone is ringing.”

Boyd bent down to pick it up before Erica could, and he handed it to her with a small smile.

Erica answered the phone, “Yes, mom. I’m on my way to the front now.”

When Erica looked up Boyd was gone. Erica stuffed down the disappointment she felt and made her way to the front of the school. She loaded herself into the car, and promptly proceeded to think about Boyd for the entire ride home.

Erica was so distracted by her thoughts that she almost didn’t notice Laura leaning against their front porch when they pulled up to the house. Erica looked at her mom, who wouldn’t look at her, and then got out of the car.

“Laura?” Erica asked, “What are you doing here?”

Laura smiled, “I’m here to talk about the bite.”

Erica’s excitement was quickly replaced with confusion. Why was Laura talking about the bite so openly in front of her mother? Erica looked over her shoulder at her mom, she couldn’t read the look on her face.

“There’s something your father and I need to tell you.” 

 

X

 

There was only one recurring nightmare that Stiles could remember. It was equally as terrible as the rest, but it was the only one that he seemed to be able to remember vividly.

He was standing on the base of the Nemeton. He was alone, No Jennifer, no pack, just himself and the Nemeton. There were no stars in the sky, no clouds, and no moon.  

The Nemeton pulsed with power and it started to grow.

 Stiles could feel it as it consumed him, could feel how the roots of the tree sprouted and slid under his skin. He could feel the power of the tree as it tried to tear his body apart from the inside out, the magic that flowed through it as the tree ripped its way through his body trying to become one with him.

The roots of the Nemeton exploded out of Stiles’ skull through his eyes and mouth, twisting upwards as they separated and wrapped his body whole.

The nightmare always ended the same way, with Stiles becoming the Nemeton.  

The nightmare was all he could think of as he stood in front of the Nemeton with Deaton at his side. It was the first time he’d been back to the Nemeton since that night, and the stains of his blood still looked fresh against the wood of the tree.

Laura’s hand squeezed his shoulder, steadying him while she held his crutches, “Are you OK?”

Stiles absentmindedly looked down at his wrist and ran his finger along the angry red scar that was slowly starting to form. He’d gotten the stiches out a few days ago, and he was already starting to feel self-conscious about such a visible reminder of that night.

Stiles tore his eyes way from his wrist and looked at her with what he hoped was a reassuring smile, “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“It’s OK if you’re not.” Laura said, obviously not believing him, “We can do this another time.”

Stiles shook his head, “The sooner we do this the better.”

Deaton cleared his throat, “Are you ready?”

“Sure, why not.” Stiles hobbled over and stood next to Deaton.

Deaton held an old book in one hand, and the other over the top of the Nemeton. He closed his eyes and drew in a sharp breath before opening them.

“There’s no activity,” Deaton said, “but it only just died down.”

Stiles felt dread settle deep into his stomach.

 “What does that mean?” Laura asked.

“It means that the Nemeton put itself back to sleep on its own,” Deaton said, “but it was active for at least a short bit of time.”

“I don’t get it,” Stiles waved his arms at everything they brought, “didn’t we bring all this magic stuff so we could do a super awesome ritual to put it back to sleep before it kills us all? And it’s already back to sleep on its own?”

Deaton sighed, “Think of the Nemeton as a candle.”

“A candle?” Laura repeated, “Sure, let’s see where this goes.”

“All candles eventually burn out,” Deaton was undeterred by Laura and Stiles’ brand of sarcasm, “and it appears that the Nemeton came to the end of its wick and burnt out.”

“So it was awake, but now it isn’t?” Stiles cocked his head to the side, “Is that because Jennifer was a shitty evil witch?”  

“I suspect it was the combination of magical interference and the fact that you did not die during the ritual.” Deaton pointed out, “In any case, it’s gone back to sleep just as it did after the attempt to sacrifice Mariska to it decades ago.”

“Didn’t you say that things went crazy in Beacon Hills during that time though?” Laura asked.

Deaton at least had the courtesy to cringe, “Things were a bit difficult, yes.”

Laura growled, “What does that mean in non-cryptic talk?”

“It means,” Deaton pinched the bridge of his nose, “that there is a possibility that while the Nemeton was active it could have acted as a lighthouse of sorts to bring things to Beacon Hills that normally would not have come.”

“Things?” Laura asked, “Like, happy, cuddly things?”

Deaton shook his head, “I would think not.”

“Great,” Stiles groaned, “our very own arboreal Hell Mouth.”

“What does this mean?” Laura asked, “What should we be ready for?”

Deaton simply said, “Anything.”

 

X

 

Jennifer woke up in a dark room.

She didn’t know where she was, or how long she’d been there. The last memory she had was the feeling of weightlessness as she fell towards the forest floor. She could still feel the way Stiles’ magic circled around her neck, draining her power until she was a useless husk. She couldn’t even feel her magic inside her anymore, it was like it had never been there in the first place.

She was laying on a bed that barely qualified to be called a bed, it was lumpy and hard to the touch. She sat up, swaying to the side slightly as the blood rushed to her head. Her entire face hurt, she couldn’t understand where all this throbbing pain was coming from.

The lights in the room switched on.

The room was completely white with padded walls from the floor to the ceiling. She looked down and saw that she was dressed in a cotton hospital gown. There was a mirror on the far wall of the room so she pushed herself up on shaky feet and walked over to it. The padding under her feet gave with each step she took and she had to concentrate harder than she thought was normal to take even a simple step.

Jennifer looked in the mirror and screamed when she saw her reflection.

Her face was horribly scared, jagged red gashes running through in in several spots. Her hair was gone, only a few strands held on to an angry red scalp in memory of what used to be there. She slammed her fist against the mirror, but it did nothing to change her reflection.

She fell to the floor, curled into a ball, and kept screaming. She screamed until it didn’t even sound like her own voice anymore. She screamed until she began coughing blood.

The door to her room opened, and Jennifer fell silent immediately. There was someone standing in the doorway, but she could only make out a shadowy silhouette of a figure with blindingly bright white light shining behind it.

“Welcome to Eichen House, Ms. Blake.”

The door closed, and Jennifer’s room fell into darkness.

 

X

 

“Has anyone ever told you that you look really sexy when you’re putting furniture together?”

Derek folded the terribly confusing instructions to his new coffee table and looked up at Stiles. Stiles was lounging on the couch, his cast propped up on a pillow he’d stole from Laura’s upstairs. The bottom of his shirt was rucked up, and Derek spent a few extra seconds looking at the exposed strip of skin before lifting his eyes to meet Stiles’.

Derek smiled, “I can’t say that they have.”

“Clearly no one has ever seen you put together increasingly complex Swedish furniture, cuz hot damn.” Stiles licked his lips, “Those arms are _deadly_.”

Stiles had been absolutely ridiculous all night, and Derek was loving every minute of it. He still couldn’t believe they could say these things to each other now, to openly admire the other and touch whenever they both wanted to. It almost felt like it was too much sometimes, too real, too fragile, but Derek wouldn’t let the feeling go for anything.

Derek rolled up the sleeve on his Henley, exposing more of his bicep, and flexed, “These arms?”

The sound Stiles made was inhuman. Or maybe it was human, because it was so uniquely Stiles.

Stiles’ face was flushed red, “Dude, are you trying to kill me?”

Derek pressed his thumb and forefinger against his chin as if he was seriously thinking about it, “Not yet. I think I’d like to keep you around for a little longer.”

He abandoned the instructions completely, and after taking a few seconds to put all the screws back in their designated bags, he walked over to the couch and lowered himself down on top of Stiles. They’d discovered it was easier that way with Stiles’ cast on his legs, it let Derek do all the work while Stiles was able to run his hands wherever he wanted to.

Derek leaned in and kissed him, and Stiles’ lips instantly parted for Derek’s tongue. Derek groaned as he felt Stiles’ hands slide up his back, settling exactly where Stiles knew the center of his tattoo was. It seemed like Stiles would never get over his obsession with Derek’s tattoo, it was just as well because Derek would never get over the way it felt to have Stiles’ hands on it.

Their lips broke apart with Stiles’ gasp, “Bed. Bed, please. I need more surface area than this couch.”

Derek laughed, nipping at Stiles’ bottom lip before sliding his arms under Stiles’ back. He lifted them both off the couch as the same time, and the swift movement caused another groan to slip from Stiles’ mouth. He leaned down and bit at Derek’s neck as Derek moved them down the hallway and into the bedroom, and it was all Derek could do to keep from slamming him against the wall and kissing him senseless before they even made it there.

They made it to Derek’s room, and Derek gently lowered Stiles down onto the bed. Stiles maneuvered himself until he was propped up on his elbows in the center of the bed, he looked at Derek with hunger in his eyes and grinned.

“Shirt?” Derek asked, huffing out a laugh.

“Please?” Stiles smiled sweetly.

Derek rolled his eyes but pulled the shirt over his head anyway. He tossed it to the side and crawled onto the bed, taking care not to jostle Stiles’ cast in the process. Stiles fell back into the pillows as his hands skimmed up Derek’s back again before finding their way to Derek’s hair.

Derek mouthed his way up Stiles’ neck, kissing the shell of his ear and whispering, “You’re so beautiful.”

He smiled as he felt Stiles’ body tremble under him. Their lips found their way back to each other, and they stayed like that for a while. Kissing, whispering back and forth, taking turns stealing each other’s breath.

Stiles was the one who finally called a stop to it, pressing a hand against the center of Derek’s chest and groaning, “OK, big guy, if we don’t stop now I’m gonna have a problem.”

Derek laughed, but he rolled off Stiles without a single complaint. One or the other of them always knew when to stop, neither of them wanting to go much further just yet. They were content with how things were now, but Derek knew that whey they were ready they’d have a conversation about moving things forward in that direction.

It was getting late, so Derek pushed himself off the bed and stretched his arms over his head.

“I’ll go brew your tea while you get changed for bed.”

Stiles looked up at him, eyes soft and lips kissed red, “You’re the best.”

“So you tell me.” Derek gave him a lopsided grin before backing out into the hallway.

He made his way to the kitchen and put a small pot of water on to boil before he pulled out Stiles’ new favorite mug, the one Laura had given him that read _World’s Greatest Magician_ and opened the jars that contained the herbs for Stiles’ nighttime tea. Derek held his breath while he gathered all the herbs and dropped them into the French Press. He’d learned the hard way the first time he ever made the tea for Stiles that his nose and nearly every single one of the ingredients that went into the tea just did not get along.

The tea had done wonders for Stiles when it came to sleep. He still had nightmares, but the frequency and the intensity of them dropped drastically. Stiles had only called him once during the week after a particularly terrible one, and he hadn’t had one on the nights that they’d spent together since the phone call.

He’d thanked Peter at their last family breakfast with Laura, and Peter had simply nodded at him and taken another sip of his coffee. Derek knew Peter well enough to know what the nod meant, and they hadn’t talked about it since.

Not that they would have had a chance to, with Peter being even more reclusive than normal over the last week or so, but Derek would take his victories with Peter wherever he could get them.

Derek poured the hot water into the press and let the leaves steep for a few minutes before pressing them down and pouring a glass for Stiles. He stopped at the freezer and pulled out a handful of ice cubes and dropped them into the cup since Stiles could stomach the taste of the tea better when it was cool.

Stiles’ eyes were closed when Derek made it back to the bedroom, but he could tell by his heartbeat that he was still awake. He walked to Stiles’ side of the bed and sat the mug down on the nightstand that Derek had finished putting together an hour earlier.

“Mmm,” Stiles hummed, his eyes still closed, “nasty herbal goodness.”

Derek walked around the bed and crawled into his side, propping himself up on his elbow and watching as Stiles downed the entire mug of tea in three gulps. He claimed it worked better if he drank it quickly, but it was probably him just wanting to get it over with. If it tasted half as terrible as it smelled, then Derek didn’t blame him.

When Stiles was done gagging he sat the mug on the coffee table and turned to face Derek. They smiled at each other, and Derek leaned in to kiss him on the forehead because he didn’t want to find out what Stiles’ mouth tasted like after drinking the tea. Stiles sqt up for a second, holding his hand out and flicking his pointer finger a few times until the light in the room turned off.

“I can lift a tire on the first try but I can’t turn off a simple light switch.” Stiles fell back onto the bed.

Derek laughed, his breath ghosting across Stiles’ neck, “You’ll get it sooner or later.”

Stiles shrugged and then wiggled himself closer to Derek. Derek slid his arm under Stiles’ shoulder pulling his body close and kissing him on the top of his head.

“Night, Derek.” Stiles whispered.

“Goodnight, Stiles.”

Derek rested his palm over Stiles’ heart just in case and closed his eyes as the steady beat of it thumped in Stiles’ chest.

He was still having trouble with the idea of feeling safe and comfortable, with the idea that he _deserved_ to feel that way. But laying there with Stiles and feeling the warmth of his body next to him and being able to focus his ears and hear Laura’s heart beating upstairs, Derek was getting more and more used to it every day.

There was a time not too long ago when Derek would have given anything to leave Beacon Hills, but now there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i LITERALLY cannot believe this is done. there were times when i honestly felt like i would never finish this, but it's been such a rewarding experience and the love you all have shown it has been so overwhelming and i never would have expected it from writing a teen wolf fic in the years of our lord 2017 and 2018. i'm so beyond honored that you all have stuck with this for close to 250k words, almost a year long, and through all the twists and turns and my screams of agony when i had to edit and proofread all by myself. i feel like it's made me grow better as a writer and a planner, and i just have really really happy feelings associated with this fic and i look forward to reading the comments on this chapter as a celebration for the whole thing so from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU! 
> 
> look out for the sequel, tentatively titled _under the pale moon_ , for which i do not have a set release date lol i hope everyone who started the journey with this work will follow it into the sequel!


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